Exploring the categorisation of Hearing Loss across Australia’s hearing health services

Exploring the categorisation of Hearing Loss across Australia’s hearing health services | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Exploring the categorisation of Hearing Loss across Australia’s hearing health services Jing Wang, Whitney Zi-Yang Qian, Libby Smith, Yuchen Wang, Vanessa Bond, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8275546/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Objective: 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. Design: 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. Study Sample: Ninety-nine organisations providing 290 hearing health services to children (aged 0-18 years) in Australia completed the survey. Among these, 43 organisations reported hearing categories and 40 provided threshold ranges. Results: Most organisations used a 6-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. Conclusions: 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. Universal Newborn Hearing Screening paediatric audiology hearing loss categorisation hearing thresholds data harmonisation Australia ANCHOR registry Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8275546","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":623720605,"identity":"02614ce9-1c9a-49ee-b6b4-e7fe89bcb7b6","order_by":0,"name":"Jing Wang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5701-476X","institution":"Murdoch Children's Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jing","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":623720606,"identity":"19df9c91-0961-45f2-aae9-fd51e93568cc","order_by":1,"name":"Whitney Zi-Yang 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Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, paediatric audiology, hearing loss categorisation, hearing thresholds, data harmonisation, Australia, ANCHOR registry","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8275546/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8275546/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjective:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003eTo 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.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDesign:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003eA 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.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStudy Sample:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003eNinety-nine organisations providing 290 hearing health services to children (aged 0-18 years) in Australia completed the survey. Among these, 43 organisations reported hearing categories and 40 provided threshold ranges.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003eMost organisations used a 6-category system. Common categories included \u003cem\u003eNormal, Mild, Moderate, Severe, \u003c/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eProfound\u003c/em\u003e. Decibel Hearing Level (dB HL) thresholds were consistent for \u003cem\u003eNormal\u003c/em\u003e (≤20dB HL), \u003cem\u003eMild\u003c/em\u003e(21-40dB HL), \u003cem\u003eSevere \u003c/em\u003e(71-90dB HL), and \u003cem\u003eProfound\u003c/em\u003e (≥91dB HL). In contrast, thresholds for \u003cem\u003eModerate\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eModerately Severe, \u003c/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eSevere-to-Profound\u003c/em\u003evaried, with overlapping ranges across services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c/em\u003eWhile 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.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Exploring the categorisation of Hearing Loss across Australia’s hearing health services","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":2,"date":"2026-04-16 17:26:40","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8275546/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-05 18:07:06","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8275546/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c1bbbb2d-35a8-4012-8ba0-c18675901222","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 16th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-05T18:07:06+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-16 17:26:40","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v2","identity":"rs-8275546","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8275546","identity":"rs-8275546","version":["v2"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}