Maternal knowledge and views regarding early hearing detection and intervention in children aged 0-5 years at a semi-urban primary care clinic in South Africa.
Katerina Ehlert, Celeste Coetzer
PMID 32787415WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers at a clinic with active hearing services mostly knew hearing loss can be tested early and would seek medical help.
They largely rejected traditional causes like curses, favouring biomedical treatment such as hearing aids, showing readiness for early detection programmes.
Key findings
0195.3% of mothers said they would take their child to a clinic, doctor or audiologist if they suspected hearing loss.
0264.5% of mothers indicated that hearing loss is not a curse, while 22.4% believed it could be.
0372% of participants believed hearing aids would be an effective treatment option.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (107 mothers) and drawn from a single clinic, limiting generalisability to rural or other urban areas. The clinic had active audiology services and student outreach, which likely boosted maternal knowledge compared to areas without these services. Educational levels of participants were not recorded, so it is unclear how schooling influenced responses. Approximately 12% of mothers needed help completing the questionnaire, which may have introduced bias. The study was cross-sectional, so it captures views at one point in time without tracking actual healthcare-seeking behaviour.
Declared interests
The authors declare no financial or personal relationships that could bias the work. Ethical approval was obtained from the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences Research and Ethics Committee.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these high levels of knowledge and biomedical acceptance apply to all South African communities. The results come from a clinic with active audiology services and student outreach, which likely improved maternal awareness compared to areas without such support.