98.1% of babies born in the United States in 2022 were screened for hearing loss, yet 34.0% of the infants who did not pass were lost to follow-up or documentation before anyone confirmed whether they could hear (CDC, EHDI 2022 Hearing Screening and Follow-up Survey). That loss rate has climbed every year since 2019, when it stood at 27.5%. Of the 6,272 infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing in 2022, only 40.9% were enrolled in early intervention before 6 months of age, the last step of the national 1-3-6 benchmark. The gap matters for language: children who met all three benchmarks scored 12 points higher on vocabulary in a 448-child study published in Pediatrics, part of the wider picture tracked in our speech therapy statistics. We aggregated data from the CDC Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), the World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and peer-reviewed studies in Pediatrics, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology and other journals listed in the methodology.
TL;DR
- 98.1% of US newborns (3,547,774) were screened for hearing loss in 2022 (CDC EHDI 2022 data summary).
- 95.6% of all births were screened before 1 month of age (CDC EHDI 2022 data summary).
- 34.0% of infants who did not pass screening were lost to follow-up or documentation in 2022, vs 27.5% in 2019 (CDC EHDI 2019 and 2022 data).
- Only 39.9% of infants not passing had a diagnostic evaluation before 3 months in 2022, vs 49.1% in 2019 (CDC EHDI diagnosed-by-3-months tables).
- 6,272 infants born in 2022 were identified as deaf or hard of hearing, 1.7 per 1,000 births (CDC EHDI 2022).
- 40.9% of identified infants were enrolled in early intervention before 6 months (CDC EHDI 2022).
- 63.7% of identified hearing loss was sensorineural and 58.4% was bilateral (CDC EHDI 2022 type and severity).
- More than 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents (NIDCD Quick Statistics, 2024).
- Low maternal education raised the odds of missed follow-up by 1.8 times across 169,238 infants (Atherton et al., Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 2023).
- In one health system, 82% of referred infants finished all milestones but only 25% did so on time (Pauley et al., Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2026).
- 13.9% of infants with congenital CMV developed late hearing impairment (Abrahao et al., Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2026).
- Children who met all 1-3-6 guidelines scored 12 points higher in mean vocabulary quotient (Yoshinaga-Itano et al., Pediatrics 2017).
- Nearly 60% of childhood hearing loss is due to avoidable causes (WHO fact sheet, March 2026).
1. Screening Coverage: Near-Universal at Birth
The first step of the system works. 98.1% of US infants born in 2022 were screened for hearing loss, and 95.6% of all births were screened before 1 month of age across 55 reporting jurisdictions (CDC, EHDI 2022 Data Summary). That rate has barely moved in four years, which means the national challenge is no longer getting babies screened but getting the 1.7% to 1.9% who do not pass through the next two steps.
A small erosion is visible in timing. In 2019, 97.7% of infants were screened before 1 month; by 2022 the comparable figure was 95.6% of births, a reminder that hospital discharge practices and outpatient rescreens add days that accumulate across 3.5 million births. Among infants whose final result was a not-pass, 84.1% (52,565) had that result before 1 month of age (CDC, 2022 Screening Before 1 Month).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Infants screened, 2022 | 98.1% (n = 3,547,774) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Screened before 1 month (among births), 2022 | 95.6% (n = 3,455,915) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Not passing final or most recent screen, 2022 | 1.8% (n = 62,508) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Infants screened, 2021 | 98.0%; 95.5% before 1 month; 1.7% not passing | CDC EHDI 2021 Data Summary |
| Infants screened, 2020 | 98.2% (n = 3,521,854); 97.2% before 1 month; 1.9% not passing | CDC EHDI 2020 Data Summary |
| Infants screened, 2019 | 98.4% (n = 3,545,388); 97.7% before 1 month; 1.7% not passing | CDC EHDI 2019 Data Summary |
| Not-pass results received before 1 month, 2022 | 84.1% (52,565 infants) | CDC EHDI 2022, Screening Before 1 Month |
| Reporting jurisdictions, 2022 | 55 (49 states, 5 territories, 1 district) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
Context note: CDC says screening and diagnosis should happen no later than 1 month and 3 months of age respectively (CDC, Hearing Loss in Children: Screening). The 2022 survey is the latest national year published, so this is the most recent available data (CDC, 2022 births).
2. The Diagnosis Gap: Where the 1-3-6 Pathway Breaks
The weak link is the 3-month step. Only 39.9% of infants who did not pass screening in 2022 completed a diagnostic evaluation before 3 months of age, down from 49.1% in 2019 (30,170 of 61,475 infants), using the same denominator, infants not passing (CDC, 2022 Diagnosed by 3 Months; CDC, 2019 Diagnosed by 3 Months). Only 55.2% of not-pass infants had any documented diagnosis in 2022, against 62.0% in 2019.
The trend line on follow-up is the single most important number in this roundup. Loss to follow-up or documentation (infants whose families were unresponsive, could not be contacted, or whose status is unknown) rose from 27.5% in 2019 to 29.8% in 2020, 32.4% in 2021 and 34.0% in 2022, or 22,146 infants (CDC, 2022 Reasons for No Documented Diagnosis). Many of those infants likely hear normally, since 45.6% of evaluated not-pass infants turned out to have typical hearing, but the system cannot tell which ones.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Not-pass infants with documented diagnosis, 2022 | 55.2% (n = 35,940) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Diagnosed before 3 months (among not passing), 2022 vs 2019 | 39.9% (25,968) vs 49.1% (30,170) | CDC EHDI 2022 and 2019, Diagnosed by 3 Months |
| Deaf or hard of hearing infants diagnosed before 3 months, 2022 | 3,905 of 6,272 | CDC EHDI 2022, Diagnosed by 3 Months |
| Loss to follow-up or documentation for diagnosis, 2022 | 34.0% (n = 22,146) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Loss to follow-up or documentation for diagnosis, 2019 to 2021 | 27.5% (2019), 29.8% (2020), 32.4% (2021) | CDC EHDI 2019, 2020, 2021 Data Summaries |
| Not-pass infants found to have typical hearing, 2022 | 29,668 (45.6%) | CDC EHDI 2022 Diagnostics |
| Documented diagnosis rate, 2019 to 2021 | 62.0% (2019), 60.0% (2020), 57.6% (2021) | CDC EHDI 2019, 2020, 2021 Data Summaries |
Context note: 3,905 of 6,272 confirmed cases diagnosed before 3 months works out to 62.3% (3,905 / 6,272), so infants who are ultimately confirmed deaf or hard of hearing tend to be diagnosed faster than the not-pass group as a whole. CDC’s 2022 diagnostics table counts 65,128 ‘total not pass’ infants (including infants sent straight to diagnostic evaluation), slightly more than the 62,508 in its summary page.
3. Early Intervention: The 6-Month Benchmark
Identification only pays off when services start. Just 40.9% of infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing in 2022 were enrolled in early intervention before 6 months of age (CDC, 2022 Early Intervention Before 6 Months). Referral is not the bottleneck: 86.8% were referred to IDEA Part C early intervention, but only 60.3% were documented as enrolled in any program.
Among the children who do enroll, timeliness has slipped. In 2019, 72.5% of enrolled infants (2,654 of 3,662) started before 6 months; in 2020 it was 72.4% (2,810). In 2022, 2,564 of 3,783 enrolled infants started before 6 months, which is 67.8% (2,564 / 3,783). The loss-to-documentation rate for early intervention has been flat at roughly one in five for four years, which points to a structural handoff problem between audiology and Part C rather than a pandemic blip.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Referred to Part C early intervention, 2022 | 86.8% (n = 5,445) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Enrolled in early intervention (Part C and non-Part C), 2022 | 60.3% (n = 3,783) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Enrolled before 6 months (among deaf or hard of hearing), 2022 vs 2021 | 40.9% (2,564) vs 42.2% | CDC EHDI 2022 and 2021 Data Summaries |
| Part C vs non-Part C enrollment, 2022 | 3,651 Part C; 132 non-Part C | CDC EHDI 2022, Early Intervention Before 6 Months |
| Enrolled before 6 months (among enrolled), 2019 and 2020 | 72.5% (2,654) and 72.4% (2,810) | CDC EHDI 2019 and 2020 Data Summaries |
| Enrollment rate, 2019 to 2021 | 61.7% (2019), 61.4% (2020), 60.2% (2021) | CDC EHDI 2019, 2020, 2021 Data Summaries |
| Loss to follow-up or documentation for EI, 2019 to 2022 | 19.1%, 19.5%, 19.6%, 19.5% (n = 1,220 in 2022) | CDC EHDI 2019 to 2022 Data Summaries |
| Part C referral rate, 2019 to 2021 | 84.8% (2019), 78.6% (2020), 88.1% (2021) | CDC EHDI 2019, 2020, 2021 Data Summaries |
Context note: CDC changed the denominator it highlights for the 6-month measure (among enrolled infants in 2019 and 2020, among all identified infants from 2021), so the 72% and 41% figures are not a like-for-like decline. The 2022 ‘among enrolled’ figure above is our calculation from CDC’s own counts.
4. Who Is Identified: Prevalence, Type and Causes
The national yield is steady at about six thousand babies a year. CDC EHDI programs identified 6,272 infants born in 2022 as deaf or hard of hearing, a prevalence of 1.7 per 1,000 births (CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children). NIDCD’s longstanding estimate is higher, about 2 to 3 of every 1,000 US children born with detectable hearing loss in one or both ears (NIDCD, Quick Statistics About Hearing), and the two figures come from different methods, so the gap should not be read as a count of missed cases.
Most identified loss is permanent inner-ear loss, and a large minority affects only one ear. Of 6,026 children with type data in 2022, 63.7% had sensorineural loss and 5.8% auditory neuropathy; 34.9% had unilateral loss, a group historically more likely to be missed or deprioritized (CDC, 2022 Type and Severity). More than 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, which is why language access choices, from amplification and cochlear implants to the sign language services covered in our sign language interpreting statistics, land on families with no prior experience.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing, 2022 | 6,272 (1.7 per 1,000 births) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Infants identified, 2019 to 2021 | 5,934 (2019), 6,321 (2020), 6,518 (2021, 1.8 per 1,000) | CDC EHDI 2019, 2020, 2021 Data Summaries |
| Children born with detectable hearing loss | About 2 to 3 per 1,000 | NIDCD Quick Statistics (updated Sept 2024) |
| Laterality, 2022 | Bilateral 3,520 (58.4%); unilateral 2,104 (34.9%); unknown 402 | CDC EHDI 2022 Type and Severity |
| Type, 2022 (n = 6,026) | Sensorineural 63.7%; conductive 11.5%; mixed 8.7%; auditory neuropathy 5.8%; unknown 10.3% | CDC EHDI 2022 Type and Severity |
| Share of childhood hearing loss due to genes | 50% to 60% | CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children |
| Children with hearing loss born under 2,500 grams | About 1 in 4 | CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children |
| Deaf children born to hearing parents | More than 90% | NIDCD Quick Statistics (updated Sept 2024) |
Context note: NIDCD also reports that about 65,000 cochlear implants had been implanted in US children as of December 2019 (most recent available data). Of the 6,272 identified children in 2022, 246 cases later resolved to typical hearing.
5. Why Families Fall Off the Pathway: Disparities and Barriers
Loss to follow-up is not random. Across 19 studies and 169,238 infants, low maternal education raised the odds of missed follow-up after a referred newborn screen by 1.8 times, and public or state insurance by 1.7 times (Atherton et al., Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 2023). Low birth weight, rural residence, racial minority status, young maternal age and maternal smoking all showed significant associations too.
Even well-resourced systems struggle with timeliness. At the University of Rochester Medical Center, 99.92% of 22,451 babies born 2020 to 2024 completed the initial screen, and 82% of the 194 infants recommended for follow-up eventually completed every milestone, but only 25% did so on time; the biggest loss came at the 1-month outpatient rescreen (Pauley et al., Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2026). In Kentucky, Hispanic infants had 45% lower odds of EHDI adherence and pandemic-era infants 24% lower odds of hearing-testing adherence (Perez et al., J Early Hear Detect Interv 2023).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Infants and studies in sociodemographic meta-analysis | 169,238 infants, 19 studies | Atherton et al., OHNS 2023 |
| Odds of missed follow-up: low maternal education; maternal smoking | OR 1.8 (95% CI 1.6-2.0); OR 1.8 (1.4-2.2) | Atherton et al., OHNS 2023 |
| Odds of missed follow-up: public or state insurance; low birth weight | OR 1.7 (1.2-4.2); OR 1.6 (1.2-2.2) | Atherton et al., OHNS 2023 |
| Odds of missed follow-up: rural residence; racial minority | OR 1.5 (1.1-1.9); OR 1.4 (1.2-1.6) | Atherton et al., OHNS 2023 |
| Rochester cohort, 2020-2024: initial screen completed | 22,433 of 22,451 (99.92%) | Pauley et al., IJPORL 2026 |
| Rochester referred infants completing all milestones vs on time | 82% (159 of 194) vs 25% (49) | Pauley et al., IJPORL 2026 |
| Kentucky: odds of EHDI adherence, Hispanic infants; pandemic-era infants | 45% lower; 24% lower for hearing testing | Perez et al., JEHDI 2023 |
| Texas providers interviewed on follow-up barriers | 56 | Cree et al., Am J Perinatol 2024 |
Context note: in Rochester, Black race, younger maternal age and higher Area Deprivation Index scores were associated with delayed completion, and maternal use of American Sign Language with not completing milestones. Texas providers cited family access to care, difficulty contacting patients and poor provider-to-provider communication (Cree et al., Am J Perinatol 2024).
6. Beyond the Newborn Screen: Toddlers, Preschoolers and Late-Onset Loss
A pass at birth is not a lifetime pass. CDC says about 1 in 200 babies is born with congenital CMV, and a 2026 meta-analysis of 56,892 urine-screened newborns found that 13.9% of infected infants developed late hearing impairment, with 83.4% asymptomatic at birth (CDC, About Cytomegalovirus; Abrahao et al., Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2026). That is why CDC recommends that children at risk for progressive or delayed-onset loss be tested by 2 to 2 1/2 years of age.
Later screening finds a different, mostly middle-ear, population. Kindergarten screening of 4 to 5 year olds in Upper Austria flagged 5.89% (2020) to 8.17% (2022) of children each year, and about 70% of surveyed parents followed through with an ENT evaluation (Moser et al., J Clin Med 2026). Toddler audiometry is also hard to complete in children with developmental differences: in a 608-child audiology protocol for ages 18 months to 8 years, autistic children needed nearly twice as many visits to reach usable results (Confer et al., Front Pediatr 2026), a group sized in our autism prevalence statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Babies born with congenital CMV | About 1 in 200; about 1 in 5 of them have long-term health problems | CDC, About Cytomegalovirus |
| cCMV meta-analysis: prevalence, asymptomatic share, late hearing impairment | 0.46%; 83.4%; 13.9% | Abrahao et al., Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2026 |
| Infants exposed to CMV in pregnancy who develop sensorineural loss | 14% | CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children |
| Recommended test age for at-risk children | By 2 to 2 1/2 years | CDC, Hearing Loss in Children: Screening |
| Kindergarten (age 4-5) abnormal screening rate, Upper Austria 2018-2025 | 5.89% (2020) to 8.17% (2022) | Moser et al., J Clin Med 2026 |
| Parents completing recommended ENT evaluation, Upper Austria | About 70% (209 questionnaires) | Moser et al., J Clin Med 2026 |
| Children 18 months to 8 years meeting speech vs discharge criteria | 93.9% vs 56.6% (608 children) | Confer et al., Front Pediatr 2026 |
| Children with ear infections by age 3 | 5 out of 6 | NIDCD Quick Statistics (updated Sept 2024) |
Context note: the AAP Bright Futures periodicity schedule (approved December 2024, published February 2025) asks pediatricians to confirm the newborn screen and verify results, and adds audiometry including 6,000 and 8,000 Hz once between 11 and 14, 15 and 17, and 18 and 21 years (AAP, Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care). CDC data put hearing loss prevalence at 0.6% of children aged 3 to 17 in the National Health Interview Survey.
7. Outcomes and Global Benchmarks
The case for chasing every lost infant rests on outcomes. In a 12-state study of 448 children with bilateral hearing loss, only 58% met all three 1-3-6 guidelines, and those who did had a 12-point higher mean vocabulary quotient (Yoshinaga-Itano et al., Pediatrics 2017). Among children without additional disabilities, 37% of those who met the guidelines scored below the 10th percentile, against 64% of those who did not (most recent available multi-state data, 2017).
Abroad, the US figures look strong on screening and weak on follow-up. Germany’s North Rhine program reported a 10-year coverage rate of 98.7% with a lost-to-follow-up rate of 1% (Thangavelu et al., Int J Neonatal Screen 2023), while China’s coverage rose from 10.9% in 2001 to 94.3% in 2020 and the share of hearing-impaired students in mainstream schools from 24.8% to 57.5% (Wang et al., China CDC Weekly 2025). Globally, WHO says nearly 60% of hearing loss in children is due to avoidable causes (WHO, Deafness and hearing loss fact sheet, March 2026). For later-life amplification, see our hearing aid statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Children meeting all 1-3-6 guidelines (448-child sample) | 58% | Yoshinaga-Itano et al., Pediatrics 2017 |
| Vocabulary quotient difference, met vs did not meet | 12 points | Yoshinaga-Itano et al., Pediatrics 2017 |
| Young adults with childhood hearing loss reporting a daily functioning limitation | About 40% | CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children |
| Employment, young adults with hearing loss and no other conditions | About 71% | CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children |
| Lifetime educational cost per child (2007 value) | 115,600 dollars | CDC, Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children |
| China newborn screening coverage, 2001 vs 2020 | 10.9% vs 94.3% | Wang et al., China CDC Weekly 2025 |
| Southwest Iran, 2019-2023: screened, prevalence | 89.96% of 450,542 births; 2.44 per 1,000 | Bayat et al., Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2026 |
| Malaysian public hospitals, median coverage | 72.0% (2022) to 88.4% (2023) | Kamaludin and Mazlan, J Med Screen 2026 |
Context note: in Iran the prevalence was 11.6 per 1,000 among NICU infants versus 1.05 in well-baby nurseries (Bayat et al., 2026). CDC projected lifetime costs of 2.1 billion dollars (2003 dollars) for all people with hearing loss born in 2000. In a national sample of 368 deaf elementary students, language proficiency and phonological knowledge explained 55% to 63% of the variance in reading and writing outcomes (Wolbers et al., Behavioral Sciences 2025).
Summary: Newborn Hearing Screening and Follow-Up by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US infants screened, 2022 | 98.1% (3,547,774) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Screened before 1 month, 2022 | 95.6% of births | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Not passing screening, 2022 | 1.8% (62,508) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Diagnosed before 3 months (among not passing), 2022 vs 2019 | 39.9% vs 49.1% | CDC EHDI Diagnosed by 3 Months tables |
| Loss to follow-up or documentation for diagnosis, 2022 | 34.0% (22,146) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Same measure, 2019 | 27.5% | CDC EHDI 2019 Data Summary |
| Infants identified deaf or hard of hearing, 2022 | 6,272 (1.7 per 1,000) | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Referred to Part C, 2022 | 86.8% | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Enrolled in early intervention, 2022 | 60.3% | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Enrolled before 6 months, 2022 | 40.9% | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Loss to follow-up or documentation for EI, 2022 | 19.5% | CDC EHDI 2022 Data Summary |
| Sensorineural share of identified loss, 2022 | 63.7% | CDC EHDI 2022 Type and Severity |
| Unilateral share, 2022 | 34.9% | CDC EHDI 2022 Type and Severity |
| Children born with detectable hearing loss | About 2 to 3 per 1,000 | NIDCD Quick Statistics |
| Deaf children born to hearing parents | More than 90% | NIDCD Quick Statistics |
| Odds of missed follow-up, low maternal education | OR 1.8 | Atherton et al., OHNS 2023 |
| Referred infants completing milestones on time (Rochester) | 25% | Pauley et al., IJPORL 2026 |
| Late hearing impairment in congenital CMV | 13.9% | Abrahao et al., Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2026 |
| Vocabulary gain when 1-3-6 met | 12 points (mean VQ) | Yoshinaga-Itano et al., Pediatrics 2017 |
| Childhood hearing loss from avoidable causes | Nearly 60% | WHO fact sheet, March 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure above was read during research for this article in a CDC data table, a federal agency page, a WHO fact sheet, the AAP periodicity schedule or a peer-reviewed abstract or full text. Where we calculated a percentage from published counts, the math is shown. Statistics found only on blogs or in search snippets were excluded.
- CDC EHDI annual data (Hearing Screening and Follow-up Survey): 2022 Data Summary, 2022 Diagnostics, 2022 Diagnosed by 3 Months, 2022 Early Intervention Before 6 Months, 2022 Type and Severity, 2021 Data Summary, 2020 Data Summary, 2019 Data Summary, and the EHDI Annual Data Archive
- CDC: Data and Statistics on Hearing Loss in Children, Hearing Loss in Children: Screening, About Cytomegalovirus
- NIDCD: Quick Statistics About Hearing, Balance, and Dizziness (updated September 20, 2024)
- World Health Organization: Deafness and hearing loss fact sheet (March 3, 2026), which also reports about 95.1 million children aged 5-19 living with hearing loss and 430 million people needing rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss
- American Academy of Pediatrics: Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (Bright Futures periodicity schedule, 2025)
- Yoshinaga-Itano C et al.: Early Hearing Detection and Vocabulary of Children With Hearing Loss, Pediatrics 2017
- Atherton KM et al.: Sociodemographic Factors Affecting Loss to Follow-Up After Newborn Hearing Screening, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 2023
- Pauley J et al.: Social determinants of health and adherence to EHDI 1-3-6 benchmarks at University of Rochester Medical Center, Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2026
- Perez N et al.: Sociodemographic Factors Influencing Pandemic-Era EHDI Use and Access, J Early Hear Detect Interv 2023; Cree RA et al.: Provider Perspectives, Am J Perinatol 2024
- Abrahao NM et al.: Delayed hearing loss in congenital CMV infection, Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2026; Moser V et al.: Preschool screening in Upper Austria, J Clin Med 2026; Confer EJ et al.: Hearing assessment protocol for children with communication or autism concerns, Front Pediatr 2026
- International programs: Thangavelu et al., Int J Neonatal Screen 2023 (Germany), Wang et al., China CDC Weekly 2025, Bayat et al., Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2026 (Iran), Kamaludin and Mazlan, J Med Screen 2026 (Malaysia); Wolbers K et al., Behavioral Sciences 2025
- Data watch: The most recent national US data cover infants born in 2022 (CDC EHDI 2022, published via the CDC archive); CDC’s current hearing-loss pages link to it but no 2023 survey had been posted when we checked. CDC’s highlighted denominators changed across years: the 2019 summary page reports 79.1% ‘diagnosed before 3 months’ and 72.5% ‘EI before 6 months’ using diagnosed or enrolled infants as the base, while the 2022 summary uses all not-pass or all identified infants, so we compared like-for-like table values only (2019’s 49.1% comes from the diagnosed-by-3-months table). Two 2022 tables report slightly different totals (62,508 vs 65,128 not passing; 3,616,776 vs 3,616,619 births). The reasons-for-no-diagnosis and reasons-for-no-EI tables could not be parsed reliably column by column, so only their published loss-to-follow-up totals are used. CDC’s 1.7 per 1,000 identified prevalence is below NIDCD’s 2 to 3 per 1,000 estimate. The 2019 JCIH position statement (Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention) and the HRSA EHDI program page returned 403 errors, so their benchmark and funding figures are not included. The Pauley, Perez, Abrahao, Moser, Bayat and Kamaludin figures come from published abstracts. The Yoshinaga-Itano vocabulary study (2017), CDC cost estimates (2003 and 2007 dollars) and NIDCD cochlear implant count (December 2019) are the most recent available data for those measures.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when CDC publishes the 2023 EHDI Hearing Screening and Follow-up Survey data summary.