Parental knowledge and attitudes to childhood hearing loss and hearing services in the Solomon Islands

Abstract

High levels of parental readiness and support for childhood hearing services in the Solomon Islands was evident. Knowledge of aetiology of childhood hearing loss was highest for otitis media, noise exposure, and family history. Knowledge and attitudes of fathers to childhood hearing loss and hearing services was either the same or better than that of mothers.

Parental knowledge and attitudes to childhood hearing loss and hearing services in Qassim, Saudi Arabia

“…Regarding the attitudes and practices of parents in relation to childhood audiology services, parents typically expressed positive attitudes in relation to the statement "I would like my child tested at school" followed by "more information about the service." This finding conflicts with the results of previous studies in India and Solomon island [5,14], but further confirmed the positive attitudes of parents toward childhood audiology services. In contrast, Sanju and colleagues reported that 40% of surveyed nurses expressed negative attitudes in relation to the statement "HL can be identified soon after birth", and 88% of nurses were unaware that some children with hearing impairments can still hear and speak [20].…”

“…[5] In contrast, a study of knowledge on SNHL by Kaspar and colleagues revealed that participants had better knowledge about "noise exposure" and "family history", but poor knowledge regarding the statement "jaundice can cause HL", followed by "delayed crying at birth can cause HL." [14] In contrast, Sanju and colleagues reported that, among a sample of surveyed nurses, 70% were aware of the "harmful effect of noise on hearing to infant" while most were not aware of the consequences of "hyperbilirubinemia on infants hearing." [20] The aspects of knowledge about risk factors of HL highlighted in previous studies differed from the results in the current study.…”

“…We administered a self-report questionnaire to collect demographic data in addition to 31 questions about the knowledge and attitudes of parents toward HL. This questionnaire adopted from the Year 2007 Position Statement and Kaspar A study [14]. Most risk factors included in the questionnaire adapted from the risk indicators of Year 2007 Position Statement [18].…”

“…Another study regarding the hearing services showed that the attitude and practices toward hearing services for the children were highly positive. The acceptance of newborn hearing tests reaches 96% of the parents, OAE accepted by 93.3, 94% of the parents were accepting the use of hearing aids if needed and the surgery the correct the hearing accepted by 64% of the parents [14]. There are multiple factors that increase parental knowledge and attitude towards hearing loss and hearing services, which include older age group, female gender, high income, and high level of education [15][16][17].…”

Prevalence of otitis media and risk-factors for sensorineural hearing loss among infants attending Child Welfare Clinics in the Solomon Islands

“…Audiology services currently consist of pure-tone audiometry assessment in conjunction with ENT Clinic consultation. The first author (AK) was invited by the ENT Clinic to collaborate in the development of community-based ear and hearing services for children, as a previous study showed there is high parental support for such services [21]. In order to recommend a suitable protocol for the ENT Clinic outreach service for infants, the present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of OM and risk-factors for sensorineural hearing loss among infants attending Child Welfare Clinics in the Solomon Islands.…”