Kaspar Annette, Pifeleti Sione, Driscoll Carlie
ENT Department, Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital, Ministry of Health, Apia, Samoa.
Hearing Research Unit for Children, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
SAGE Open Med. 2021 Aug 30;9:20503121211041518. doi: 10.1177/20503121211041518. eCollection 2021.
The Pacific Island region is estimated to have among the highest rates of childhood ear disease and hearing loss in the world. The adverse effects of childhood hearing loss include delayed speech/language development, learning difficulties, and reduced social-emotional well-being. Schoolteachers and early childhood educators are among the first professionals who may suspect hearing loss in their young students, and they are well-placed to initiate referrals to appropriate health services. Given the current efforts to implement Inclusive Education in the Pacific Islands, teachers are also uniquely positioned to positively influence, support, and advocate for a child with hearing loss in their classroom. There are no previous studies on this topic from the Pacific Island region.
The study will use a national survey and convenience sampling design. Teachers attending the Annual Teachers Conference in Samoa will be invited to independently and anonymously completed a 23-item questionnaire on childhood hearing loss and hearing services. Questions are in English, with a Samoan translation provided. The participating teachers will be required to respond with "yes," "no," or "unsure," and to mark their response on the questionnaire. The questions assess knowledge of biomedical etiology of hearing impairment, knowledge of the adverse impacts of hearing loss on childhood development, knowledge of hearing loss identification and intervention, and attitudes toward children with a hearing impairment.
Not applicable for a study protocol.
We publish these protocols to facilitate similar studies in other low- and middle-income countries, and especially among our Pacific Island neighbors.
据估计，太平洋岛屿地区儿童耳部疾病和听力损失的发生率在世界上名列前茅。儿童听力损失的不利影响包括言语/语言发育迟缓、学习困难以及社会情感幸福感降低。学校教师和幼儿教育工作者是最早可能怀疑其年幼学生听力损失的专业人员之一，而且他们处于有利位置，可以将学生转介至适当的医疗服务机构。鉴于目前在太平洋岛屿实施全纳教育的努力，教师在课堂上对有听力损失的儿童产生积极影响、给予支持和倡导方面也具有独特的地位。此前太平洋岛屿地区没有关于这个主题的研究。
该研究将采用全国性调查和便利抽样设计。将邀请参加萨摩亚年度教师会议的教师独立且匿名地填写一份关于儿童听力损失和听力服务的23项问卷。问题用英文表述，并提供萨摩亚语翻译。参与调查的教师需要回答“是”“否”或“不确定”，并在问卷上标记他们的回答。这些问题评估对听力障碍生物医学病因的了解、对听力损失对儿童发育不利影响的了解、对听力损失识别和干预的了解，以及对有听力损失儿童的态度。
不适用于研究方案。
我们公布这些方案，以促进其他低收入和中等收入国家开展类似研究，尤其是我们太平洋岛屿的邻国。
