Marques Tatiana, Silvestre Margarida, Rosa Bárbara Santa, Miguéis António
CIBIT-Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal.
Audiol Res. 2022 Mar 26;12(2):171-181. doi: 10.3390/audiolres12020020.
Ethical standards in audiology have been continuously improved and discussed, leading to the elaboration of specific regulatory guidelines for the profession. However, in the field of auditory rehabilitation, audiologists are still faced with circumstances that question their ethical principles, usually associated with the support of the hearing aids industry. The study explores the decision-making process and ethical concerns in auditory rehabilitation as they relate to the practice of audiology in Portugal. An online questionnaire constructed by the authors was used and sent to the email addresses of a list of audiologists, registered with the Portuguese Association of Audiologists. The questionnaire was answered by 93 audiologists with clinical experience in auditory rehabilitation for more than one year. The collected data demonstrated that audiometric results and clinical experience are the most important factors for decision-making in auditory rehabilitation practice. Moreover, incentives from the employers or manufacturers were identified as the main cause of ethical dilemmas. This study highlights the ethical concerns regarding the clinical practice of auditory rehabilitation in Portugal, revealing that the decision-making process is complex and, specifically in this field, the current practice may not be adequate for effective compliance with professional ethical standards.
听力学领域的道德标准一直在不断改进和讨论，从而制定了该专业的具体监管指南。然而，在听觉康复领域，听力学家仍然面临着一些质疑其道德原则的情况，这些情况通常与助听器行业的支持有关。该研究探讨了听觉康复中的决策过程和道德问题，因为它们与葡萄牙听力学的实践相关。作者构建了一份在线问卷，并发送到在葡萄牙听力学协会注册的听力学家名单的电子邮件地址。93名具有一年以上听觉康复临床经验的听力学家回答了问卷。收集到的数据表明，听力测试结果和临床经验是听觉康复实践中决策的最重要因素。此外，雇主或制造商的激励被确定为道德困境的主要原因。这项研究突出了葡萄牙听觉康复临床实践中的道德问题，表明决策过程很复杂，特别是在这个领域，目前的实践可能不足以有效遵守专业道德标准。
