Dr Karen Liddle1,3, Dr Nicolette Anderson1, Dr Kristy Kimlin2, Dr Natasha Reid3
1Children's Health Queensland, , Australia, 2Metro South Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, Australia, 3Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, Australia
Biography:
Dr Karen Liddle, MBBS FRACP MPH, is a Senior Staff Specialist Paediatrician at the Queensland Children’s Hospital and PhD candidate with the University of Queensland with the Integrating Genomics into Medicine Group. She has been caring for children with permanent hearing loss in the Childhood Hearing Clinic for fourteen years. Her current research engages national and international collaborators to evaluate the utility of genetic testing and imaging in informing diagnoses and improving outcomes in childhood hearing loss. She is co-chair of the Childhood Hearing Australasia Medical Professionals (CHAMP) network and member of the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee.
Abstract
The purpose of the presentation
The purpose is to examine the relationship between maternal diabetes, both pre-existing and gestational, and congenital hearing loss (HL) in newborns. This study aims to assist health professionals in counselling pregnant individuals and families of children with congenital HL.
The nature and scope of the topic
The study is a cross-sectional data-linkage analysis using state-wide data from Queensland (2014-2019). It includes all infants born at term gestation (>37 weeks) in Queensland hospitals, using data from the Queensland Perinatal Data Collection and the QChild hearing screening database. The study investigates the incidence, severity, and type of HL in infants exposed to maternal diabetes during pregnancy (DiP) compared to those not exposed.
The issue or problem under consideration
The primary issue is the inconsistent evidence linking DiP with congenital HL. The study seeks to determine if infants exposed to DiP are at an increased risk of congenital HL, given that a significant number of newborns with HL have no apparent risk factors, and the potential influence of maternal diabetes remains unclear.
The outcome of the conclusion reached
The study found no significant difference in the incidence of congenital HL between infants born to mothers with diabetes and those born to mothers without diabetes (aOR 1.11, CI 0.93, 1.33). However, infants exposed to DiP were more likely to have retrocochlear HL and structural causes for HL in a univariable analysis. Overall, maternal diabetes in pregnancy was not associated with adverse hearing outcomes in this large population-level cohort.