Interventions following hearing screening in adults: A systematic descriptive review

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: Adult hearing screening may be a solution to the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of hearing loss in adults. Limited use and satisfaction with hearing aids indicate that consideration of alternative interventions following hearing screening may be needed. The primary aim of this study is to provide an overview of all intervention types that have been offered to adult (≥ 18 years) screen-failures. Design: Systematic literature review. Articles were identified through systematic searches in PubMed, EMBASE, Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, private libraries, and through reference checking. Results: Of the initial 3027 papers obtained from the searches, a total of 37 were found to be eligible. The great majority of the screening programmes (i.e. 26) referred screen-failures to a hearing specialist without further rehabilitation being specified. Most of the others (i.e. seven) led to the provision of hearing aids. Four studies offered alternative interventions comprising communication programme elements (e.g. speechreading, hearing tactics) or advice on environmental aids. Conclusions: Interventions following hearing screening generally comprised referral to a hearing specialist or hearing aid rehabilitation. Some programmes offered alternative rehabilitation options. These may be valuable as an addition to or replacement of hearing aid rehabilitation. It is recommended that this be addressed in future research.

Sumario

Objetivo: El tamiz auditivo en adultos puede ser una solución al diagnóstico y tratamiento insuficiente de las alteraciones auditivas en adultos. El uso y satisfacción limitados con los auxiliares auditivos indica que pueden necesitarse intervenciones alternativas luego del tamiz auditivo. El propósito primario de este estudios es echar un vistazo a todos los tipos de intervención que han sido ofrecidas a adultos (≥ 18 años) que fallan dicho tamiz. Diseño: Revisión sistemática de la literatura. Se identificaron artículos a través de una búsqueda sistemática en PubMed, EMBASE, Cinahl, la Biblioteca Cochran, bibliotecas privadas y a través de revisión de referencias. Resultados: De los 3027 trabajos iniciales obtenidos de las búsquedas, se encontró un total de 37 que eran elegibles. La gran mayoría de los programas de tamiz auditivo (p.e., 26) refirieron los fallos del tamiz a un especialista en audición, sin especificar nada adicional sobre rehabilitación. La mayoría de los otros (p.e., 7) llevaron a la adaptación de auxiliares auditivos. Cuatro estudios ofrecieron intervenciones alternativas que involucraban programas de comunicación (p.e., lectura labio-facial, tácticas para escuchar) o consejo sobre ayudas ambientales. Conclusiones: Las intervenciones que siguez al tamiz auditivo involucraron referencia a especialistas en audición o rehabilitación con auxiliares auditivos. Algunos programas ofrecieron opciones alternativas de rehabilitación. Estos pueden ser valiosos como una adición o en reemplazo de la rehabilitación con auxiliares auditivos. Se recomienda que esto sea analizado en investigaciones futuras.

Key Words::

• Review
• Hearing ability
• Screening
• Intervention
• Adults

Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank Elise P. Jansma of the Medical Library, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, for her help in searching the electronic databases. In addition, we would like to thank our research colleagues who assisted us with extracting the information from the articles written in foreign languages. Preliminary data (title: Interventions following hearing screening in adults: A systematic review) was presented at a poster session of the Adult Hearing Screening International Conference, June 10–12, 2010, Cernobbio, Italy.

Declaration of interest: This work was performed in the framework of the European project AHEAD III: Assessment of Hearing in the Elderly: Aging and Degeneration - Integration through Immediate Intervention (2008–2011) (FP7, contract No. HEALTH-F2-2008-200835).