Public awareness of ear health and hearing loss in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Khalid A Alshehri, Waleed M Alqulayti, Bassam E Yaghmoor and 1 others
PMID 31478749WHAT IT FOUND
Jeddah residents scored 10.66 of 14 on average.
They knew hearing aids need fitting, but only 53.4% knew listening to music for more than 3 h a day using earphones may cause permanent hearing loss.
Key findings
01Participants answered 10.66 ± 1.92 of 14 true/false ear-health questions correctly.
02The lowest correct-answer rate was 53.4% for the statement that listening to music for more than 3 h a day using earphones may cause permanent hearing loss, and the highest was 93% for the statement that hearing aids need accurate fitting.
03Mean correct answers were lowest among participants younger than 18 (9.93 ± 2.13), highest among those aged 40 or older (10.85 ± 1.76), and higher among participants with a family history of hearing loss (10.89 ± 1.82) than among those without (10.53 ± 1.97).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The outcome was self-reported true/false knowledge. Of 5648 people approached, only 2372 responded, a 42% response rate. Education level was not recorded, although education may affect awareness. The age distribution was skewed towards younger participants because the survey required an electronic form and elderly literacy levels were low in Jeddah. The sample included only residents of Jeddah, so it may not represent rural areas or the wider Saudi population. Healthcare staff and a representative number of deaf individuals were not included.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the average score of 10.66 out of 14 as proof that people prevent hearing loss well. It is self-reported knowledge, not hearing status or behaviour, and the sample was mainly urban Jeddah residents, with 45.1% aged 19 to 29.