Epidemiology of Newborn Hearing Loss on the West Bank

描述（由申请人提供）：巴勒斯坦在实现主权国家目标的道路上面临许多障碍。其中包括阻碍巴勒斯坦优化其保健系统能力的障碍。在某种程度上，这些障碍是由于 缺乏用于方案决策的循证健康数据。除了作为一个中低收入国家和公共卫生数据差距给巴勒斯坦医疗系统造成的问题外，社会特征（例如，血缘关系）也会对医疗保健目标产生负面影响。这些考虑因素的结合可能对个人和国家的福祉产生可怕的健康后果。例如，儿童听力损失（HL）可能导致语言习得延迟，从而对儿童的学习和交流能力产生负面影响。这种结果往往限制了受影响者作为社会成员充分发挥潜力的能力。巴勒斯坦，HL 这可能是一个比其他低收入国家更大的问题，因为在高达40%的婚姻中可以找到近亲。血缘关系已被证明会增加社区中与遗传有关的疾病的数量。如果在儿童听力障碍的背景下理解这些考虑因素，对巴勒斯坦的可怕影响就被放大了。由于缺乏关于巴勒斯坦儿童HL发病率的数据，并且关于其病因学（包括遗传学与感染或其他儿科HL原因的作用）的证据有限，因此该提议可能对个人和整个社区都有潜在的积极益处。此外，由于密歇根儿童医院和韦恩州立大学为中东以外最大的阿拉伯社区提供服务，因此了解巴勒斯坦儿童HL可能对他们在底特律和密歇根东南部服务的儿童和家庭有益。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Palestine confronts many obstacles in its path towards achieving the goals of a sovereign state. Amongst these are impediments that hinder Palestine's ability to optimize its healthcare system. In part, these obstacles are the result of a lack of evidence-based health data for programmatic decision making. In addition to the problems that being a low- to middle-income country (LMIC) and gaps in public health data cause for the Palestinian medical system, societal characteristics (e.g., consanguinity) can also negatively impact healthcare goals. The combination of these considerations can have dire health consequences for the individual as well as for the wellbeing of the nation. For example, childhood hearing loss (HL) can lead to delayed language acquisition and, thus, negatively affect the child's ability to learn and communicate. Such outcomes often result in a limit on the affected person's ability to achieve their full potential as a member of society. For Palestine, HL may be a greater problem than in other LMICs because of consanguinity that can be found in up to 40% of marriages. Consanguinity has been shown to increase the number of genetically related diseases in a community. When these considerations are understood against the backdrop of childhood hearing disorders, the dire implications for Palestine are magnified. Because there is a lack of data about the incidence of childhood HL in Palestine, and limited evidence about its etiology that includes the role of genetics versus infection or other causes of pediatric HL, this proposal may have potential positive benefits for both the individual and the community at large. Additionally, because Children's Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University serve the largest Arab community outside of the Middle East, what is learned about childhood HL in Palestine may have benefits to the children and families that they serve in Detroit and in Southeast Michigan.