National survey of paediatric audiological services for diagnosis and intervention in the South African private health care sector
South African Journal of Communication Disorders
| Field | Value | |
| Title | National survey of paediatric audiological services for diagnosis and intervention in the South African private health care sector | |
| Creator | Meyer, Miriam E. Swanepoel, De Wet le Roux, Talita | |
| Description | Objective: A national survey of early hearing detection and intervention services was undertaken to describe the current status of diagnostic and intervention services in the South African private health care sector.Methods: All private hospitals with obstetric units (n = 166) were surveyed telephonically. The data was integrated with data collected from self-administered questionnaires subsequently distributed nationally to private audiology practices providing hearing screening at the respective hospitals reporting hearing screening services (n = 87). Data was analysed descriptively to yield national percentages and frequency distributions.Results: Average reported age at diagnosis was 11 months. Most participants (74%) indicated that less than 20% of infants fitted with hearing aids received amplification before the age of 6 months. Most (64%) participants indicated that the average period between confirmed diagnosis and hearing aid fitting was 1 month, on par with international benchmarks. Only 16%–23% of participants included all diagnostic procedures recommended by the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s 2007 position statement for minimum diagnostic test batteries for infants and young children.Conclusions: Diagnosis of hearing loss, hearing aid fitting and audiological intervention is delayed significantly in the South African private health care sector. Improved services should include integrated systematic hospital-based screening as part of birthing packages with diagnostic referral to specialist paediatric audiologists for accurate assessment and management of patients in a timely manner. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2014-11-11 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/sajcd.v61i1.62 | |
| Source | South African Journal of Communication Disorders; Vol 61, No 1 (2014); 8 pages 2225-4765 0379-8046 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/62/105
https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/62/106
https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/62/108
https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/62/98
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