Discipline of Audiology, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2020 May 19;67(1):e1-e10. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v67i1.685.
Treatment of cancer with cisplatin can result in hearing loss. Given the increasing burden of cancer in Africa, appropriate and timely identification, intervention and management of hearing loss in affected patients is of paramount importance.
This study describes the perspectives and practices of healthcare professionals in relation to cisplatin-associated ototoxicity at an institution treating patients diagnosed with cancer.
A concurrent triangulation study design was used to collect quantitative data from seven oncologists, nine nurses and 13 pharmacists using self-administered questionnaires, and qualitative data from four audiologists through semi-structured interviews for this hospital-based study, conducted in South Africa.
Levels of awareness of cisplatin-associated ototoxicity varied with only 33% of the nursing personnel being aware in comparison to the oncologists and pharmacists. Oncologists were identified as the main custodians for providing information to patients. Whilst 82% of the participants considered the audiologist to be part of the oncology team, there was no provision for ototoxicity monitoring in the chemotherapy protocols, nor any ototoxicity-monitoring programme in place. There was no evidence that knowledge of cisplatin-associated ototoxicity translated into an appropriate management strategy for such patients.
Healthcare personnel overseeing the care and management of cancer patients need to improve their awareness of ototoxicity and refer timeously for audiological evaluation. Audiologists require greater awareness of monitoring programmes to appropriately implement and manage such programmes within a cancer platform and be part of a multidisciplinary team.
顺铂治疗癌症可能导致听力损失。鉴于非洲癌症负担不断增加，及时发现、干预和管理受影响患者的听力损失至关重要。
本研究描述了在一家治疗癌症患者的机构中，医疗保健专业人员在顺铂相关性耳毒性方面的观点和实践。
在南非进行了这项基于医院的研究，采用同时性三角测量研究设计，使用自我管理问卷从 7 名肿瘤学家、9 名护士和 13 名药剂师收集定量数据，并通过半结构访谈从 4 名听力学家收集定性数据。
只有 33%的护理人员意识到顺铂相关性耳毒性，这表明对顺铂相关性耳毒性的认识程度存在差异，而肿瘤学家和药剂师则对此有所了解。肿瘤学家被认为是向患者提供信息的主要监护人。尽管 82%的参与者认为听力学家是肿瘤团队的一部分，但化疗方案中没有提供耳毒性监测，也没有实施任何耳毒性监测方案。没有证据表明对顺铂相关性耳毒性的了解转化为对这些患者的适当管理策略。
负责癌症患者护理和管理的医疗保健人员需要提高对耳毒性的认识，并及时进行听力评估。听力学家需要提高对监测方案的认识，以便在癌症平台内适当实施和管理这些方案，并成为多学科团队的一部分。
