2020 Type and Severity Summary of Identified Cases of Hearing Loss

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March 2023

Data Source: 2020 CDC Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Hearing Screening & Follow-up Survey (HSFS)

Background: CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities promotes the health of babies, children, and adults, with a focus on preventing birth defects and developmental disabilities and optimizing the health outcomes of those with disabilities. As part of these efforts, the Center is actively involved in addressing the early identification of permanent hearing loss among newborns and infants. Hearing loss affects between 1 and 2 per 1,000 infants in the United States and, when left undetected, can delay a child’s speech and language, social, and emotional development.¹ To ensure children with permanent hearing loss are identified as soon as possible, states and territories have implemented Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs. These EHDI programs work to ensure all infants are screened for hearing loss, ideally before 1 month of age; receive diagnostic audiologic evaluation (for those not passing the screening), ideally before 3 months of age; and are enrolled in early intervention (for those identified with permanent hearing loss), ideally before 6 months of age.² The Hearing Screening & Follow-up Survey is a voluntary survey sent out annually by CDC to each state and territorial EHDI program that requests nonestimated hearing screening, diagnostic, and intervention information on infants born in a specified calendar year (e.g., 2020). The survey helps to assess the progress of EHDI efforts to identify infants with permanent hearing loss across the United States.

This summary highlights type and severity of permanent hearing loss for babies born between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
These data are based on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) classification system for hearing loss. The ASHA categories are as followed:

ASHA Categories
Degree of Hearing Loss	Hearing loss range (dB HL)
Normal	-10 to 15
Slight	16 to 25
Mild	26 to 40
Moderate	41 to 55
Moderately severe	56 to 70
Severe	71 to 90
Profound	91+

Number of Survey Respondents Who Provided Type and Severity Data: 52^α (47 states, 4 territories, 1 district) AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, CT, DE, District of Columbia, FL, GA, Guam, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, Micronesia, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, Puerto Rico, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

¹American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Effects of hearing loss on development. Available at: https://www.asha.org/public/hearing/effects-of-hearing-loss-on-development.
Accessed April 8, 2021

²Year 2019 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs (2019). Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, 4(2), 1-44. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/jehdi/vol4/iss2/1/

2020 Type and Severity Summary of Identified Cases of Hearing Loss (By Ear):ASHA Classification
			BILATERAL (by Ear)					UNILATERAL (by Ear)			LATERALITY UNKNOWN (i.e., Unknown if case is a unilateral or bilateral loss)
			Total Number of Reported Infants with Hearing Loss, 2020 CDC EHDI HSFS								6,142 Children
			RIGHT EAR	LEFT EAR		UNKNOWN EAR (degree of loss for each ear)		RIGHT EAR	LEFT EAR	UNKNOWN EAR
			RIGHT EAR	LEFT EAR		UNKNOWN EAR (degree of loss for each ear)		RIGHT EAR	LEFT EAR	UNKNOWN EAR		Sensorineural	Slight	37	32	1	1	5	11	0	0
Mild		623	621		0	0	98	116	0	0
Moderate		702	729		0	0	102	130	0	1
Moderately Severe		297	288		0	0	55	59	0	1
Severe		233	240		0	0	72	100	0	3
Profound		599	607		2	2	163	149	0	2
Unknown Severity		82	68		0	0	24	16	0	7
Conductive	Slight		2	6		0	0	7	4	0	0
	Mild		63	56		0	0	31	24	0	0
	Moderate		78	81		0	0	93	50	0	1
	Moderately Severe		66	61		0	0	139	79	0	1
	Severe		23	21		0	0	49	21	0	0
	Unknown Severity		56	54		0	0	62	39	0	0
Mixed	Slight		3	1		0	0	0	0	1	0
	Mild		37	36		0	0	8	10	0	0
	Moderate		90	87		0	0	21	17	0	1
	Moderately Severe		68	75		0	0	21	24	0	0
	Severe		51	48		0	0	5	19	0	0
	Profound		19	24		0	0	12	8	0	0
	Unknown Severity		22	15		0	0	11	2	0	0
Type Unknown	Slight		11	15		0	0	7	5	1	0
	Mild		71	76		0	0	20	24	0	12
	Moderate		49	53		0	0	9	19	0	18
	Moderately Severe		40	34		0	0	11	12	0	2
	Severe		34	32		0	0	16	15	0	4
	Profound		28	23		0	0	9	7	0	6
	Unknown Severity		60	59		0	0	16	14	0	109
Auditory Neuropathy	Slight		2	1		0	0	0	0	0	0
	Mild		4	5		0	0	0	0	0	0
	Moderate		6	4		0	0	0	0	0	1
	Moderately Severe		4	4		0	0	2	1	0	0
	Severe		7	7		0	0	5	7	0	0
	Profound		28	28		0	0	20	19	0	1
	Unknown Severity		104	108		0	0	42	59	3	0
Totals by Ear			3,599	3,599		3	3	1,135	1,060	5	170
Totals by Child			3,599			3		1,135	1,060	5	170
Laterality Totals (by Child)			3,602 Bilateral Cases					*2,200 Unilateral Cases*
Total all Types and Severity (by Child)											5,972
Cases Resolved (i.e., hearing loss to no hearing loss)											170
Overall Total (by Child)											*6,142*

Summary of Type and Severity of Identified Cases of Hearing Loss in 2020

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2020 Type and Severity Summary of Identified Cases of Hearing Loss

Summary of Type and Severity of Identified Cases of Hearing Loss in 2020

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