Purpose: The conventional genetic screening for deafness involves 9-20 variants from four genes. This study expands screening to analyze the mutation types and frequency of hereditary deafness genes in Zhejiang, China, and explore the significance of in-depth deafness genetic screening in newborns.
Methods: This was a multi-centre study conducted in 5,120 newborns from 12 major hospitals in the East-West (including mountains and islands) of Zhejiang Province.