Indicators of late help-seeking tendencies of parents of children with hearing loss in India

AbstractPurpose:The average age of identification of pediatric hearing loss in India is between 1.5 and 4 years. This delay is attributed to the absence of universal newborn hearing screening programs and reliance only on parent’s help-seeking behavior (HSB) for suspicion and identification of hearing loss. Several factors influence the parents’ hearing help-seeking behavior. This study assessed whether some of the demographic details (which are also potential influencing factors) available to the medical doctor can help predict the help-seeking tendencies of parents.Materials and Methods:A questionnaire was used to collect information related to eleven different demographic factors and the age of identification of hearing loss from 384 parents of children with hearing loss. The cohort was divided into early and late help-seekers based on the age of identification. Chi-square analysis was used to identify the factors associated with the age of identification, and logistic regression was used to identify the factors that can predict age of identification.Results:Nine out of eleven factors assessed showed a significant association with the help-seeking tendencies of parents. However, only the status of newborn hearing screening, geographical location, and degree of hearing loss were significant predictors of late help-seeking tendencies.Conclusion:Improving help-seeking tendencies by modifying the associated factors can reduce the age of identification of hearing loss by about 2 years. Therefore, healthcare professionals could use the predictive variables to judge the help-seeking tendencies of parents and accordingly offer targeted counseling and follow-up to ensure early identification.