Hearing loss and neonatal hearing screening programs from mothers' perspective

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate maternal knowledge about hearing loss, their satisfaction with newborn hearing screening programs and parents' perceived level of stress. The study was carried out with 75 mothers aged 19-46 years whose infants underwent newborn hearing screening at Buca Seyfi Demirsoy Training and Research Hospital. Mothers were analysed in two groups: those with newborn babies and those with young children between 12-60 months. Each group was divided into those who passed the hearing screening test and those who were referred. Maternal Knowledge Level Checklist on Hearing Loss, Parent Satisfaction Questionnaire for Neonatal Hearing Screening Programme and Perceived Stress Scale were used in the evaluation. When the relationship between the level of knowledge, satisfaction and stress factors was analysed, it was concluded that the level of knowledge about hearing loss was negatively correlated with satisfaction with pre-screening information (p<0.05) and positively correlated with overall satisfaction (p<0.05). Overall satisfaction with the screening programme was positively correlated with satisfaction with the staff (p<0.01) and the appointment process (p<0.01). A strong positive correlation was obtained between the total satisfaction scores for the screening programme and satisfaction with staff (p<0.01), appointment (p<0.01) and overall satisfaction (p<0.01), while a negative correlation was obtained with satisfaction with pre-screening information (p<0.01). The correlation between satisfaction with staff and satisfaction with information was negative (p<0.05), while a strong positive correlation was obtained with satisfaction with the appointment process (p<0.01). As a result of the study, no significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of the level of information about hearing loss and perceived stress (p>0,05), while a significant difference was obtained between the satisfaction levels. This difference was thought to be related to the personnel factor. It is thought that the findings obtained will contribute to the improvement of the hearing screening programme.