Newborn Hearing Screening Data Summaries

The Newborn Screening Program hearing summaries dashboard includes summary data newborn hearing screens, timeliness indicators and hearing outcomes.

Note, these dashboards are best viewed on a desktop computer or tablet.

Data notes

Data set: access to the data sets used to create these dashboards is provided below. 
Newborn Screening hearing summaries dashboard data file (Excel Worksheet)

Data population: infants born in Minnesota during 2019-2023 for all data summaries, except for the late onset hearing loss graph. For late onset hearing loss, the data is based on diagnosis year rather than birth year, and includes infants diagnosed with late onset hearing loss from 2019 to 2023.

Note on data denominators and eligibility for screening. Data denominators vary between the different newborn screens, so the number of newborns screened or families that opt out will not total the same for each type of screen. This variation is due to factors that determine eligibility for each newborn screen. The denominators used for the hearing summary graphs are included below for reference: 

• Newborns screened: infants born in Minnesota, excluding infants who died before hearing screening was completed or who were referred directly to diagnostic testing for medical reasons.
• Families who opted out of screening: infants born in Minnesota, excluding infants who died before hearing screening was completed or who were referred directly to diagnostic testing for medical reasons. 

Note on diagnostic hearing evaluation data. The graph showing the number of hearing loss cases diagnosed each year includes both congenital and late onset cases. The graph showing the laterality and degree of hearing loss includes all cases of permanent hearing loss, whether congenital or late onset. For those with hearing loss in both ears (bilateral), the degree shown reflects the lesser degree/better-hearing ear, when the degree of loss differs between ears. 

For more details about newborn hearing screening and hearing loss informational fact sheets, visit Minnesota Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (EHDI). 

For questions about the data you see here, or to request the information in an alternate format, email health.newbornscreening@state.mn.us.