Objectives:
to estimate and describe the coverage of newborn hearing screening (NHS) among users of the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) between 2008 and 2011.
Methods:
an ecological study of time series was conducted using data from the SUS’s Outpatients Information System (SIA-SUS), the Live Births Information System (SINASC), the Interagency Health Information Network (RIPSA) and the Beneficiaries Information System (SIB) of the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS). Coverage was estimated based on the NHS procedures authorized by the SUS and the live newborns are users of SUS, for every year for each federal unit.
Results:
national NHS coverage among SUS users was estimated to have been 7.1% in 2008, and rose to 21.8% in 2011, with evidence disparities between and within regions. More extensive coverage was found in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (60.1%) and Paraná (59.4%), while, in the states of Rondônia, Espírito Santo and Pernambuco, coverage was less than 5%.
Conclusions:
in Brazil, more than two thirds of newborns who are users of the SUS did not undergo hearing screening, even in 2011, the following year the passing of a law making the procedure obligatory. Although there has been progress, the goal should be universal coverage.
Neonatal screening; State health care coverage; Unified Health System
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