The conference was organized by professor Ferdinando Grandori of the CNR Centre of Biomedical Engineering at the Politechnic of Milan, and the scientific coordinator was professor Mark Lutman of the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at the University of Southampton, Southampton, England. The conference consisted of presentations of evidence by specialists in various fields, including epidemiology, audiology, otolaryngology, communication disorders, speech-language pathology, education, and health economics. Professor Mark Lutman served as moderator of the panel discussion. The panelists weighed the evidence, also on the basis of the ample discussions at the end of each presentation, and produced the following consensus statement at the end of the meeting. The statement was finalized at the conference.
Intervention is considered to be most successful if commenced in the first few months of life.
Therefore, identification by screening at or shortly after birth has the potential to improve quality of life and opportunities for those affected. Effective programs of intervention are well established. Methods for identification of PCHI in the neonatal stage are now accepted clinical practice. Neonatal testing in maternity hospitals is more effective and less expensive than behavioral screening conventionally carried out at 7 to 9 months. Hearing screening in the neonatal period cannot identify acquired or progressive hearing loss occurring subsequently.