Mardinli Ahmed, Weerasuriya Rona, Gillespie Alanna, Smith Libby, Sung Valerie
Department of Paediatrics The University of Melbourne Melbourne Australia.
The Centre for Social Impact The University of New South Wales Kensington New South Wales Australia.
Aust J Soc Issues. 2022 Aug 11. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.231.
To describe hearing-health service use, especially use of telehealth, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in deaf/hard-of-hearing children. In 2020, the Victorian Childhood Hearing Longitudinal Databank surveyed 497 (61.6%) families of deaf/hard-of-hearing children aged 0.4-19.6 years, with 449 (90.3%) providing quantitative data and 336 (67.6%) providing free-text comments about COVID-19's impact on service use and access. We summarised quantitative data using descriptive statistics and analysed free-text responses using inductive and deductive reasoning. Of the 1152 services families used during the pandemic, 711 (62%) were accessed via telehealth. Parents reported several challenges and facilitators of service access during the pandemic, particularly regarding telehealth. Parents reported that their child found telehealth appointments more difficult (347/665, 52.1%) and of worse quality (363/649, 55.9%) compared to in-person. These difficulties were more evident in pre-school than school-age children. Consideration of these factors when implementing telehealth practice beyond the pandemic would improve family experiences, ensuring quality of care.
描述新冠疫情早期阶段失聪/听力障碍儿童的听力健康服务使用情况，尤其是远程医疗的使用情况。2020年，维多利亚州儿童听力纵向数据库对497名（61.6%）年龄在0.4至19.6岁的失聪/听力障碍儿童家庭进行了调查，其中449个家庭（90.3%）提供了定量数据，336个家庭（67.6%）提供了关于新冠疫情对服务使用和获取影响的自由文本评论。我们使用描述性统计方法总结定量数据，并通过归纳和演绎推理分析自由文本回复。在疫情期间家庭使用的1152项服务中，711项（62%）是通过远程医疗获取的。家长们报告了疫情期间服务获取的几个挑战和促进因素，特别是关于远程医疗的。家长们报告说，与面对面预约相比，他们的孩子觉得远程医疗预约更困难（347/665，52.1%），质量也更差（363/649，55.9%）。这些困难在学龄前儿童中比学龄儿童中更为明显。在疫情之后实施远程医疗实践时考虑这些因素将改善家庭体验，确保护理质量。
