Analysis of a hearing loss identification and intervention program in the first years of life in primary care

Abstract

Purpose: to analyze the implementation and effectiveness of a hearing loss identification and intervention program in the first years of life in primary care. Methods: an experimental study carried out in two Basic Health Units. Twenty-three Community Health Workers participated, trained through an online self-instructional course from the Ministry of Health. Subsequently, they followed the hearing and language of children from zero to two years old, referring them, if necessary, to audiological evaluation. For the analysis of pre and post online course knowledge, the Wilcoxon test was applied, and to compare the performance between the participants of the two Basic Health Units, the Mann Whitney test was used, adopting p<0.05. Additionally, the qualitative perception of participating community workers, the referrals, and the result of the audiological evaluation were analyzed. Results: the online course was effective in improving the knowledge of the participants. A total of 102 children were monitored, 15 of them were referred for evaluation. From these, four underwent hearing screening and 11 underwent a complete hearing assessment, a case of conductive hearing loss being identified. Conclusion: the implementation of a program for the identification and intervention of hearing loss, in the first years of life, in primary care, permeated by community health workers, is feasible.

O papel dos profissionais da atenção básica na triagem auditiva neonatal: vantagens, desafios e impacto na identificação precoce de deficiências auditivas

“…Além disso, visando à melhoria da segurança dos pacientes neonatos e de seus pais diante desse Brazilian Journal of Health Review, Curitiba, v. 7, n. 1, p. 3197-3207, jan./fev., 2024 quadro, recomenda-se um maior desenvolvimento de materiais educativos direcionados e uma ampliação na atenção dada a essa condição específica. Da mesma forma, Oliveira et al (2023) ressaltam que o trabalho dos ACS pode desempenhar um papel fundamental na ampliação da identificação, diagnóstico e intervenção precoce da perda auditiva. Além disso, pode ser crucial para resgatar famílias que, porventura, tenham deixado de participar de alguma etapa do programa de identificação e intervenção da perda auditiva durante os primeiros anos de vida, por isso a necessidade de promoção de capacitação e ações voltadas para esses profissionais.…”