Barriers to Equity in Pediatric Hearing Health Care: A Review of the Evidence.

Purpose: We review the evidence regarding barriers to hearing health care for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Background: There are considerable data to suggest that hearing health care disparities constitute a major factor in loss to follow-up or documentation for children going through the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention process. Families are affected by a combination of factors underlying these disparities, resulting in delayed care and suboptimal developmental outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.