You Sunghwa, Han Woojae
Laboratory of Hearing and Technology, College of Natural Sciences, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea.
Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology, College of Natural Sciences, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea.
J Audiol Otol. 2020 Jan;24(1):40-47. doi: 10.7874/jao.2019.00094. Epub 2019 Jul 20.
Because the psychophysical symptoms of hearing loss and dementia in the elderly are very similar, untrained healthcare professionals in dementia facilities can easily overlook a severity of hearing loss in their patients. The present study identifies their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on hearing loss using a survey whether they may help hearing problem of the patients with dementia. A total of 29 health-care professionals responded to the KAP survey. Also, 2 family members participated. The results showed that most of the nurses and caregivers in elderly medical welfare facilities who worked with dementia patients did not have knowledge of their hearing loss. Even the facility managers did not know how to conduct hearing tests for their patients although they did recognize that some of their patients had a hearing loss. Eventually, actual practice was not possible at this moment by the professionals. However, our respondents did have a positive attitude toward screening for hearing loss and help their patients with dementia wear hearing aids if a clinical guideline was provided. We suggest to develop clear and precise clinical guidelines of the hearing screening test for the dementia patients due to the interrelationship between dementia and hearing loss. When these guidelines apply to elderly residents in a medical welfare facility, early diagnosis and treatment of their sensory loss will help alleviate their dementia as well.
由于老年人听力损失和痴呆症的心理生理症状非常相似，痴呆症护理机构中未经培训的医护人员很容易忽视患者的听力损失严重程度。本研究通过一项调查来确定他们关于听力损失的知识、态度和行为（KAP），看其是否有助于痴呆症患者解决听力问题。共有29名医护人员回应了KAP调查。此外，还有2名家庭成员参与。结果显示，大多数在老年医疗福利机构中照顾痴呆症患者的护士和护理人员并不了解患者的听力损失情况。即使是机构管理人员，虽然他们意识到部分患者有听力损失，但也不知道如何为患者进行听力测试。最终，目前专业人员无法实际开展相关工作。然而，我们的受访者对于听力损失筛查持积极态度，并且如果能提供临床指南，他们愿意帮助痴呆症患者佩戴助听器。鉴于痴呆症和听力损失之间的相互关系，我们建议为痴呆症患者制定清晰准确的听力筛查测试临床指南。当这些指南应用于医疗福利机构中的老年居民时，对他们感官损失的早期诊断和治疗也将有助于缓解其痴呆症状。
