Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Department of Family Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Int J Audiol. 2021 Oct;60(10):747-753. doi: 10.1080/14992027.2021.1872806. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
To explore the difficulties and obstacles of hearing-technology users during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Descriptive, cross-sectional study.
Individuals with permanent hearing loss ( = 278) answered a questionnaire designed to identify potential obstacles caused by using hearing aids during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the reasons and deleterious effects associated with the devices. Each category reflected challenges in communicating, learning, and working during the pandemic. Different response categories were compared using descriptive and inferential statistics.
The duration of daily device usage before the imposed lockdown was significantly higher than that during (Z = -2.01, < 0.05), potentially attributable to the pandemic-induced difficulties faced by hearing-technology users. Such challenges include the shortage of batteries for hearing devices, limited access to repair or programming services of said devices and accessories, termination of speech therapy sessions, and obstacles to employment and education.
Among audiologists, efficiency and professionalism are required to educate the public and private health sectors regarding the prevalent challenges and their harmful impact on hearing-technology users during the COVID-19 pandemic. To overcome these issues, awareness of telepractice and its importance in providing audiological services to hard of hearing individuals should be raised.
探讨 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间听力技术使用者面临的困难和障碍。
描述性、横断面研究。
永久性听力损失者（ = 278）回答了一份问卷，旨在确定在 COVID-19 大流行期间使用助听器可能带来的障碍，以及与设备相关的原因和有害影响。每个类别都反映了大流行期间在沟通、学习和工作方面的挑战。使用描述性和推断性统计比较了不同的反应类别。
在实施封锁之前，每日设备使用时间明显长于封锁期间（Z = -2.01， < 0.05），这可能归因于听力技术使用者在大流行期间面临的困难。这些挑战包括助听器电池短缺、助听器及其配件的维修或编程服务有限、言语治疗课程中断以及就业和教育障碍。
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，听力学专家需要提高公众和私营医疗部门的效率和专业水平，以了解普遍存在的挑战及其对听力技术使用者的有害影响。为了克服这些问题，应该提高对远程实践及其为听力障碍者提供听力学服务的重要性的认识。
