2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
| Advancing Early Hearing Detection and Intervention in Kentucky: A Seven-Year Review of EHDI Benchmarks, Risk Factors, and Geographic Trends (2017 to 2023)
Advancing Early Hearing Detection and Intervention in Kentucky: A Seven-Year Review of EHDI Benchmarks, Risk Factors, and Geographic Trends (2017 to 2023)
Including risk factors for childhood hearing loss in an Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program is crucial for identifying at-risk infants who may not be detected through newborn screening alone, ensuring timely diagnosis and intervention. Kentucky aggregated statewide birth data from 2017–2023 to examine hearing screening, diagnostic, and intervention outcomes, as well as a range of medical and familial factors associated with PCHL. These include factors recognized by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) and others previously identified in research. Risk factors examined include: family history of PCHL, NICU admission > 5 days, NICU admission, hyperbilirubinemia, ototoxic drug exposure, anoxia, low APGAR scores (=3), persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), seizures, sepsis, craniofacial abnormalities, low birthweight, and maternal infections such as syphilis, meningitis, rubella, and cytomegalovirus (CMV).
Using a case-control design, we analyzed 353,100 births and identified factors with strong correlations to confirmed PCHL (n=616, 0.17%). PCHL diagnosis was most associated with craniofacial abnormalities (OR: 47.41, 95% CI: 36.49, 61.60); CMV (OR: 42.82, 95% CI: 21.65, 84.67); and NICU admission lasting 5 days or more (OR: 20.87, 95% CI: 5.08, 85.75). We assessed whether the distribution of risk factors differed between Appalachian and non-Appalachian Kentucky counties. Children with sepsis were more likely to be Appalachian (OR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.83, 3.85). Low birthweight (OR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.83, 3.85), maternal rubella (OR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.08, 4.38), CMV (OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.18, 2.43), and maternal syphilis (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.82) were also more common in Appalachian children.
The presentation will include an in-depth demographic and geographic analysis of risk factors across Kentucky counties. Kentucky’s findings demonstrate how integrating risk factor and geographic data with traditional screening, diagnosis, and intervention data can improve PCHL prevention, early identification, and strengthen the impact of statewide EHDI programs.
- Identify geographic patterns in the distribution of hearing loss risk factors and EHDI outcomes across Kentucky counties using spatial analysis.
- Evaluate which risk factors are associated with timely completion of hearing screening, diagnostic evaluation, and intervention services.
- Discuss the potential public health implications of integrating expanded risk factor tracking and geographic data into statewide EHDI systems to guide resource allocation and targeted interventions.
Presentation:
View Presentation File
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Hannah Speaks
(Primary Presenter), University of Kentucky, hrsp227@uky.edu;
Hannah Speaks is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Kentucky. She is in her second year working with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program as a statistical analyst. Hannah has previous experience in hearing loss research, including roles as an industrial hygienist focusing on occupational hearing loss, work with hearing preservation non-profit organizations, and a research fellowship with the Noise and Bioacoustics Team at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH). Her dissertation research explores the relationship between hearing loss and cognition and is supported by the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging through a National Institute on Aging T32 predoctoral fellowship.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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• Receives Other financial benefit for Other activities from Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Office for Children with Special Healthcare Needs.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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Financial relationship with NIH T32 AG078110 “Training in Translational Research in Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias (TRIAD);
Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Office for Children with Special Healthcare Needs, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Human Services.
Nature: Research support, contracted employment.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Lindsey Hendricks
(Author), Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Office for Children with Special Healthcare Needs, lindsey.hendricks@ky.gov;
Lindsey Hendricks is the current EHDI Coordinator for Kentucky. Lindsey joined the EHDI team in October 2024, and she has over 6 years of program management experience in grant-funded programs.
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Jeanruth Albano
(Author), Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Office for Children with Special Healthcare Needs, jeanne.albano@ky.gov;
Currently the Kentucky EHDI Statewide Project Manager, Jeanruth has been with the program since 2020, having served as the Health Program Administrator and Project Director until 2023 prior to moving into a contracted advisor/support role. She has also served as the health equity subject matter expert for the Kentucky Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs, which houses the KY EHDI program. With a broad range of experience post-graduation, from youth and family direct services to instructor of health economics, numerous internships in data analysis/visualization, research assistantship and technical report development for state legislation regarding public health, Jeanruth has a Master of Public Health with additional advanced certificates in Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management from Benedictine University, and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Education from the State University of New York at Albany. Her primary interest is in the equity and system efficacy of health services.
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Lori Travis
(Author), Kentucky Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs, lori.travis@ky.gov;
Dr. Lori Travis has served as the Audiology Services Administrator for the Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs (OCSHCN) for the Cabinet for Health and Families Services in Kentucky since 2020. She develops, administers, and coordinates Audiology and Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Programs and services throughout the state of Kentucky. Her clinical practice and research focus on pediatric hearing healthcare and EHDI. She has experience in grants management including collaborative agreements with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and MCHB-HRSA. She currently serves as a co-investigator on grants awarded to the University of Kentucky, University of Arkansas for Medical Services, and University of Colorado-Denver by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Travis also served as interim EHDI Health Program Administrator, overseeing all aspects of the program. Additionally, she is a practicing audiologist at the OCSHCN clinic in Elizabethtown, KY. Prior to becoming the program administrator, she served as a staff level audiologist and Speech and Hearing Regional Coordinator since joining the OCSHCN team in 2014. Her past positions include work at a private otorhinolaryngology practice, private hearing aid practice and large university audiology clinic. Her clinical experiences include diagnosis and treatment of hearing disorders across the lifespan as well as vestibular disorder diagnosis and treatment in adults.
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Erin Abner
(Author), University of Kentucky, erin.abner@uky.edu;
Dr. Erin Abner is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology with joint appointments in the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Department of Biostatistics.
Dr. Abner joined the College as an assistant professor in 2013. She is the author or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Abner is currently an MPI or co-investigator on multiple NIH-funded grants, including the NIH/NIA Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, where she is the Co-Leader of the Data Management and Statistics Core.
Her current research is focused on assessing how medical conditions like hypertension and diabetes are related to cognitive impairment and neuropathology. Dr. Abner teaches primarily graduate-level methods courses for the Department of Epidemiology, including Advanced Research Methods in Biostatistics and Epidemiology and Introduction to Causal Inference.
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