Moll Jared, Burger Zani, Jacobs Daneel M P, Mothibe Retshepisitswe P, Swanepoel De Wet, Mahomed-Asmail Faheema
Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2024 Dec 9;71(1):e1-e7. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v71i1.1059.
Hearing aid verification is required to objectively measure hearing aid outputs by ensuring that the amplified speech spectrum closely approximates the prescription goals.
This study aimed to determine audiologists' perceptions and practices regarding hearing aid verification and identify facilitators and barriers to its use.
A cross-sectional national e-survey included questions related to demographics, perceptions of verification, verification practices and two open-ended questions regarding the facilitators and barriers to conducting hearing aid verification in South Africa.
Seventy-eight South African audiologists, with experience ranging from less than a year to 34 years, completed the online survey. Of these, 76.3% conduct hearing aid verification, while 23.7% seldom or never perform this verification. Among the audiologists who conducted verification, 81.0% reported performing it on both adults and children. More than three-quarters (86.6%) indicated that they conduct verification only during the initial fitting, while half (53.8%) do so only when a problem arises. Thematic analysis revealed the following barriers to verification: improper equipment, a lack of equipment, non-standard clinical practices and time constraints.
There are several challenges faced by South African audiologists in performing verification. It may be feasible to address these barriers by raising awareness about the value of verification, offering training, and advocating for the purchase and utilisation of verification equipment.Contribution: This study's findings provide information on the current practices of hearing aid verification in a socioeconomically diverse setting. Furthermore, it highlights important challenges such as a lack of equipment as well as time constraints.
助听器验证需要通过确保放大后的语音频谱紧密接近处方目标来客观测量助听器输出。
本研究旨在确定听力学家对助听器验证的看法和做法，并确定其使用的促进因素和障碍。
一项全国性横断面电子调查包括与人口统计学、对验证的看法、验证做法以及两个关于在南非进行助听器验证的促进因素和障碍的开放式问题相关的问题。
78名南非听力学家完成了在线调查，他们的经验从不到一年到34年不等。其中，76.3%的人进行助听器验证，而23.7%的人很少或从不进行这种验证。在进行验证的听力学家中，81.0%报告对成人和儿童都进行验证。超过四分之三（86.6%）的人表示他们仅在初次验配时进行验证，而一半（53.8%）的人仅在出现问题时才进行验证。主题分析揭示了以下验证障碍：设备不当、设备短缺、临床实践不规范和时间限制。
南非听力学家在进行验证时面临若干挑战。通过提高对验证价值的认识、提供培训以及倡导购买和使用验证设备来解决这些障碍可能是可行的。贡献：本研究结果提供了在社会经济多样化背景下助听器验证当前做法的信息。此外，它突出了诸如设备短缺和时间限制等重要挑战。
