Exploring the categorisation of hearing loss across Australia's paediatric hearing health services.

Authors

Jing Wang, Whitney Zi-Yang Qian, Libby Smith, Yuchen Wang, Vanessa Bond, Evelyn Deutscher, Kayla Elliott, Patricia Van Buynder, Karen Liddle, Kristen Mason, Lauren McHugh, Bonny Parkinson, Teresa Yc Ching, Greg Leigh, ANCHOR Collaborative, Valerie Sung

Published in

International journal of audiology. Pages 1-13. Nov 01, 2026. Epub Nov 01, 2026.

Abstract

To describe how childhood hearing loss is categorised across Australian hearing health services and assess whether existing categorisation systems can be harmonised into a single national framework to support consistent, equitable data collection and reporting.
A cross-sectional national survey collected responses from organisations providing universal newborn hearing screening, diagnostic audiology, hearing rehabilitation, and hearing implantation services. Categories and associated hearing-level thresholds were compared across jurisdictions, category systems and service types.
Ninety-nine organisations providing 290 hearing health services to children (aged zero-18 years) in Australia completed the survey. Among these, 43 organisations reported hearing categories and 40 provided threshold ranges.
Most organisations used a six-category system. Common categories included Normal, Mild, Moderate, Severe, and Profound. Decibel Hearing Level (dB HL) thresholds were consistent for Normal (≤20dB HL), Mild (21-40dB HL), Severe (71-90dB HL), and Profound (≥91dB HL). In contrast, thresholds for Moderate, Moderately Severe, and Severe-to-Profound varied, with overlapping ranges across services.
While many organisations used threshold ranges broadly aligned with recognised standards, variation in mid-range categories indicates the need for a unified national consensus to support consistent interpretation, service planning, and reporting, ultimately improving care and outcomes.

PMID:
42967821
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Nov 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.