Kapalamula Grant, Gordie Kelly, Khomera Memory, Porterfield J Zachary, Toman Julia, Vallario Jenna
African Bible College, Area 47, Lilongwe P.O. Box 1028, Malawi.
Department of Audiology, School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
Audiol Res. 2023 Apr 12;13(2):271-284. doi: 10.3390/audiolres13020024.
Malawi, as a low-income country in southeastern Africa, severely lacks early identification, diagnosis and intervention measures for hearing loss. Due to its constrained resources, an educational awareness campaign targeted at professionals can be a cost-effective instrument in promoting good health care through awareness, prevention, and early identification of hearing loss. The aim of this study is to assess school teachers' knowledge of hearing health, audiology services, identification, and management of hearing issues before and after an educational intervention.
A Pre-Survey, followed by an educational intervention, and a Post-Survey were completed by teacher participants. A similar World Health Organization-derived survey was also administered to compare to our locally adapted survey. Trends related to efficacy, performance, and survey improvement were evaluated.
A total of 387 teachers participated. The average score on the Post-Survey was significantly improved compared to the Pre-Survey (71% to 97% correct responses) with the educational intervention. The only predictive variable related to performance was the location of the school within the capital of Lilongwe compared to rural sites outside of the capital. Our locally adapted survey compared favorably to the WHO survey.
The results suggest that there is a statistically significant improvement in the implementation of an educational program to increase the knowledge and awareness of hearing health care among teachers. Some topics were more poorly understood than others, suggesting the need for targeted awareness interventions. Location within the capital city had some effect on performance but a high rate of correct responses was achievable across the participants independent of age, teaching experience, or gender. Our data support the idea that hearing health awareness interventions can be an effective and low-cost option to equip teachers to effectively serve as an advocate for improved identification, early diagnosis and appropriate referral of students with hearing loss.
马拉维作为非洲东南部的一个低收入国家，严重缺乏听力损失的早期识别、诊断和干预措施。由于资源有限，针对专业人员开展的教育宣传活动可以成为一种具有成本效益的手段，通过提高认识、预防和早期识别听力损失来促进良好的医疗保健。本研究的目的是评估教育干预前后学校教师对听力健康、听力服务、听力问题的识别和管理的知识水平。
教师参与者完成了一项预调查，随后进行了教育干预，最后进行了后调查。还进行了一项类似的源自世界卫生组织的调查，以便与我们本地改编的调查进行比较。评估了与效果、表现和调查改进相关的趋势。
共有387名教师参与。通过教育干预，后调查的平均得分相比预调查有显著提高（正确回答率从71%提高到97%）。与表现相关的唯一预测变量是学校位于首都利隆圭市内，而不是首都以外的农村地区。我们本地改编的调查与世界卫生组织的调查相比具有优势。
结果表明，实施一项教育计划以提高教师对听力保健的知识和认识在统计学上有显著改善。有些主题的理解程度比其他主题差，这表明需要有针对性的提高认识干预措施。在首都的位置对表现有一定影响，但无论年龄、教学经验或性别如何，所有参与者的正确回答率都很高。我们的数据支持这样一种观点，即听力健康意识干预可以成为一种有效且低成本的选择，使教师能够有效地成为倡导者，促进对听力损失学生的更好识别、早期诊断和适当转诊。
