Epidemiology of Newborn Hearing Loss on the West Bank

描述(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。其中一些障碍阻碍了巴勒斯坦优化其医疗保健系统的能力。在一定程度上，这些障碍是 缺乏循证的健康数据来进行方案决策。除了作为中低收入国家(LMIC)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)也可能对医疗保健目标产生负面影响。这些考虑结合在一起，可能会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。这种结果往往会限制受影响的人作为社会成员充分发挥其潜力的能力。对于巴勒斯坦，HL 这可能是一个比其他LMIC更大的问题，因为血缘关系可以在高达40%的婚姻中找到。血缘关系被证明会增加一个社区中与基因相关的疾病的数量。当在儿童听力障碍的背景下理解这些考虑时，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，以及关于其病因的证据有限(包括遗传与感染或其他原因对儿童HL的作用)，这一建议可能对个人和整个社区都有潜在的积极好处。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，有关巴勒斯坦儿童HL的知识可能会使底特律和密歇根东南部的儿童和家庭受益。

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.