Evaluation of the use of a questionnaire by non-specialists to detect hearing loss in preschool Brazilian children.

In developing countries there is a lack of trained personnel and testing equipment to facilitate early detection of hearing impairment in children. There is a need to develop a strategic functional model for identification of hearing impairments through a scheme for the optimal utilization of the limited and local resources in the community. A questionnaire offers a low-cost option, specially if it is administered by non-professionals. This study evaluated a parent report questionnaire by non-professionals, to identify hearing loss in pre-school children of a poor community in São Paulo city. Seven volunteers were trained by a professional to use the questionnaire. A total of 133 children aged 3-6 years enrolled in this study. Their parents answered the questionnaire administered by the volunteers and the children underwent audiological screening (audiometry and imitanciometry). The results showed that the volunteers reproduced the evaluation of the professional regarding the use of the questionnaire. The majority of the results were statistically significant and the minimal percentage of concordance was 77%. Of the 133 children who were tested, 12 failed the audiometry screening (9.02%) and 18 failed the tympanometry screening (13.53%). The questionnaire did not differentiate between the children who failed in the audiological screening from those who did not, suggesting further refinements are necessary.