University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
Department of Brain and Hearing, Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, Western Australia.
Am J Audiol. 2024 Jun 4;33(2):518-531. doi: 10.1044/2024_AJA-23-00113. Epub 2024 Apr 22.
The aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of Australia-based hearing health care consumers regarding the (a) provision and utilization of teleaudiology services, (b) experiences with teleaudiology, and (c) barriers and enablers to future teleaudiology use.
A national prospective self-report online survey was completed between April and October 2020, amid COVID-19. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (closed-answer items) and content analysis (open-text responses). A total of 381 participants ( = 72.07 years ± 10.08, 142 females) were recruited from different states and territories of Australia.
Despite positive outcomes reported by those who undertook teleaudiology appointments during COVID-19, results indicate low-consumer teleaudiology uptake. It can be inferred that consumers were not aware of teleaudiology as an appointment option, clinicians/clinic staff had not informed and/or supported teleaudiology as an option, and biases existed that prevented teleaudiology being more widely adopted. It is unclear whether consumers who were eligible for government subsidies understood that teleaudiology appointments were reimbursed through government funding. Barriers to future teleaudiology uptake were largely related to concerns regarding confidentiality and privacy.
Low consumer uptake of teleaudiology appointments appears to be driven by consumer preference for in-person services, which appears to be driven by lack of knowledge regarding the availability and effectiveness of teleaudiology.
本研究旨在调查澳大利亚听力保健消费者对以下方面的看法：（a）远程听力学服务的提供和利用；（b）远程听力学体验；以及（c）未来使用远程听力学的障碍和促进因素。
2020 年 4 月至 10 月期间，在 COVID-19 疫情期间，采用全国性前瞻性自我报告在线调查。使用描述性统计分析（封闭答案项）和内容分析（开放文本回复）对数据进行分析。总共从澳大利亚不同州和地区招募了 381 名参与者（=72.07 岁±10.08 岁，142 名女性）。
尽管在 COVID-19 期间进行远程听力学预约的人报告了积极的结果，但结果表明消费者对远程听力学的接受程度较低。可以推断，消费者不知道远程听力学是一种预约选择，临床医生/诊所工作人员没有告知和/或支持将远程听力学作为一种选择，并且存在偏见，阻止了远程听力学更广泛地采用。不清楚有资格获得政府补贴的消费者是否知道政府资助报销远程听力学预约费用。未来采用远程听力学的障碍主要与对保密性和隐私性的担忧有关。
远程听力学预约的低消费者接受度似乎是由消费者对面对面服务的偏好驱动的，而这种偏好似乎是由于缺乏对远程听力学可用性和有效性的了解所致。
