Does newborn hearing screening cause anxiety among mothers? A cross-sectional study from a tertiary hospital in Malaysia

Abstract Background The universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) has effectively allowed babies with hearing loss to be detected early. However, findings from previous studies indicate that this procedure may adversely induce anxiety among mothers. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate anxiety among mothers whose babies received a hearing screening at a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 105 mothers from a tertiary hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two questionnaires, the Infant Health Concern Scale (IHCS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), were used to measure the mothers’ worry level on a 4-point Likert scale. Mothers were required to complete the questionnaires twice, before and 4 weeks after discharge, regardless of the hearing screening results. Results The STAI scores obtained from mothers whose babies failed the initial screening were significantly higher than mothers whose babies passed. During the initial screening, all mothers rated hearing as the sixth health aspect causing anxiety using the IHCS. However, the ranking fell to 15th place after the second screening. Similarly, mothers whose babies had false positive results also exhibited significantly higher STAI scores and a dropped hearing ranking during rescreening than the initial screening. In addition, mother’s anxiety was not significantly correlated with their education level, family income, or number of births. Conclusion Mothers who participated in this study experienced anxiety regardless of their babies hearing screening results. Therefore, the UNHS program must be reviewed to identify appropriate strategies to minimize this negative emotion among mothers.