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Development of a public audiology service in Southern Malawi: profile of patients across two years

Parmar, B; Phiri, M; Caron, C; Bright, T; Mulwafu, W; (2021) Development of a public audiology service in Southern Malawi: profile of patients across two years. International Journal of Audiology , 60 (10) pp. 789-796. 10.1080/14992027.2020.1864486. Green open access

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Abstract

Objective To describe the profile of patients attending the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) audiology clinic in Malawi, over a two-year period (2016–2017). Design A retrospective patient record review. Study sample There were 2299 patients assessed at the QECH audiology department between January 2016 and December 2017. Adult patients’ ages ranged from 18 to 94 years (M = 45.8, SD = 19.22). The mean age of children included in this study was 7.7 years (SD= 5.21). Overall, 45.4% of patients were female. Results Of the 61.6% of adults and 41.7% of children found to have some degree of hearing loss, 28.3% and 15.4% were fitted with hearing aids, respectively. The number of patients seen in 2017 (n = 1385) was 34% higher than that of 2016 (n = 914). Conclusion This study found that demand for hearing services is increasing in this public sector Malawian audiology department but uptake of hearing aids for those in need is low. Future evaluation of service provision and treatment outcomes is needed. Results from this study can be used to inform the development of future audiology clinics in low resource settings.

Type: Article
Title: Development of a public audiology service in Southern Malawi: profile of patients across two years
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2020.1864486
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2020.1864486
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Otorhinolaryngology, Audiology, hearing loss, deafness, Malawi, ear and hearing care, hearing aids
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > The Ear Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139364
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