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Effects on the Family in the First 2 Years of Life

Betty R. Vohr, MD; Julie Jodoin-Krauzyk, MEd, MA; Richard Tucker, BA; Mary Jane Johnson, MEd; Deborah Topol, BA; Marianne Ahlgren, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(3):205-211.

Objective  To determine whether there was increased stress and impact on the family for mothers of infants whose screening results and subsequent diagnostic findings indicated hearing loss (HL) and mothers of infants with a positive screening result who subsequently pass the rescreening (false-positive group), compared with mothers of infants who pass the initial screening (control group), when their children were aged 6 to 10, 12 to 16, and 18 to 24 months.

Design  Matched cohort analytic study.

Setting  Home visits.

Patients/Participants  Mothers of 33 infants with confirmed HL, 42 infants with a false-positive screening result, and 70 infants in the control group.

Interventions  Screening for HL.

Outcome Measures  Scores on the Parenting Stress Index and the Impact on Family–Adapted Version G.

Results  Mothers of infants in the false-positive group did not report increased stress or impact. Mothers of infants with HL reported greater financial impact, total impact, and caretaker burden compared with mothers of infants in the control group. In multivariate analysis of the total cohort, the presence of HL was associated with increased total impact on the family; a neonatal intensive care unit stay was associated with increased stress and total impact on the family; and older maternal age and greater family resources were associated with decreased stress and total impact on the family.

Conclusions  Although a false-positive result or a pass of the screening for HL was not associated with increased stress or impact, identification of HL was independently associated with greater total impact on the family when the child was 18 to 24 months of age.

Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (Dr Vohr, Ms Jodoin-Krauzyk, and Mr Tucker), and Rhode Island School for the Deaf (Mss Johnson and Topol and Dr Ahlgren), Providence, Rhode Island.

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