Major findings of the LOCHI study on children at 3 years of age and implications for audiological management

Abstract

The Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study addresses the evidence gap regarding the efficacy of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) for improving outcomes through a prospective comparison of outcomes of children who were identified either early or late due to differential access to UNHS, but who had uniform access to the same consistent post-diagnostic audiological intervention from a single government-funded national service provider, Australian Hearing. The primary aim was to determine the factors, including age at amplification, that affect outcomes of children with hearing loss.