A review of the audiological risk factors in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’s population in Albania

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact of audiological risk factors on the neonatal population in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in Albania over time.

Methodology: To compare the data, neonates born in the two maternity hospitals in Tirana during the period 2018-2019 were studied, specifically those in NICUs. Since true NICUs exist only in Tirana's maternity hospitals, this study essentially provides an overview of the situation across Albania. Data collected from a similar study in 2006-2007 were used for comparison. Thus, the study periods in both cases covered two years, with a time gap of approximately 10 years.

An extensive database of 22,814 recordings was filtered, and 985 cases with complete data were selected. All of this group had one or more risk factors. The risk factor analysis was based on the completed data for this group.

Results: The dominant risk factors in the study population were NICU stay, the use of ototoxic medication, low birth weight, prematurity, hyperbilirubinemia and mechanical ventilation.

Conclusions: The weight of risk factors in the Albanian NICU population remains significant, and many of the subjects who fail the hearing screening tests or with hearing loss have risk factors. Careful monitoring of pregnancy and the accurate selection of antibiotics for perinatal infections are two elements that can and should remain the focus of attention to reduce hearing loss in newborns. The risk of later-onset hearing loss in subjects with multiple risk factors necessitates close follow-up for this category.