Johnson Carole E, Danhauer Jeffrey L, Koch Lindsey Latiolais, Celani Kristina E, Lopez Ilian Priscilla, Williams Victoria A
Department of Communication Disorders, Auburn University, Al 36849, USA.
J Am Acad Audiol. 2008 Feb;19(2):171-90. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.19.2.7.
Hearing and balance problems are prevalent among the elderly. Primary care physicians (PCPs) are important pivotal points of entry for ensuring that patients receive needed audiology services. New Medicare beneficiaries are entitled to one-time preventative examinations including hearing/balance screenings. A 35-item questionnaire was developed to assess physicians' participation in, knowledge about, and attitudes toward hearing/balance screenings and referrals for the elderly. The survey was mailed to 710 PCPs (19 undeliverable; 95 returned; response rate = 13.7%) in major metropolitan areas in the United States. Generally, these PCPs were not conducting hearing/balance screenings, aware of patient self-report screening questionnaires, or likely to screen in the future. They referred to audiologists and otolaryngologists mainly when patients complained of having hearing/balance difficulties, and they stated that these problems were important in the elderly and that the Medicare program was worthy of funding but that they had little time and were not reimbursed appropriately for screening. Therefore, PCPs could benefit from informational outreach campaigns on the prevalence of, negative HRQoL (health-related quality of life) effects from, and screening procedures for hearing/balance disorders in the elderly.
听力和平衡问题在老年人中很普遍。初级保健医生（PCP）是确保患者获得所需听力服务的重要切入点。新加入医疗保险的受益人有权享受包括听力/平衡筛查在内的一次性预防性检查。我们编制了一份包含35个条目的问卷，以评估医生对老年人听力/平衡筛查及转诊的参与情况、了解程度和态度。该调查问卷被邮寄给美国主要大都市地区的710名初级保健医生（19份无法投递；95份被退回；回复率 = 13.7%）。总体而言，这些初级保健医生未进行听力/平衡筛查，不了解患者自我报告筛查问卷，也不太可能在未来进行筛查。他们主要在患者抱怨有听力/平衡问题时才会将患者转诊给听力学家和耳鼻喉科医生，并且他们表示这些问题在老年人中很重要，医疗保险计划值得资助，但他们时间有限，且进行筛查得不到适当的报销。因此，初级保健医生可以从有关老年人听力/平衡障碍的患病率、对健康相关生活质量的负面影响以及筛查程序的信息推广活动中受益。
