Características sociodemográficas e audiológicas dos usuários de serviços especializados em saúde auditiva

Abstract

Characterization studies of users of specialized services in auditory rehabilitation allow knowing the real needs of people with hearing impaired who use these services, being essential to promote the improvement of public health strategies, improving the quality and accessibility of services. Objectives: To describe the sociodemographic and audiological characteristics of users of the Hearing Health service at a Specialized Rehabilitation Center (CER) in the State of Bahia and to identify, through a systematic review, the audiological characteristics of users of specialized hearing health services. Methods: Article 1 was a systematic review conducted following the recommendations of PRISMA (2020). A descriptive analysis of the extracted data was performed, and due to the high heterogeneity of the findings, it was not possible to perform a meta-analysis. Article 2 was a cross-sectional study, which analyzed 529 medical records of users who entered the CEPRED auditory rehabilitation service from January to March 2019. The data were analyzed using descriptive and exploratory analysis, using the chi-square test, with a significance level p < 0.05. Results: In Article 1, eleven articles became eligible for data extraction and analysis, according to established criteria. All articles included were cross-sectional studies, published from 1992 to 2021. The sample size was heterogeneous, ranging from 100 to 3894 participants. The profile of people who seek specialized hearing health services are mostly elderly and with low education. In terms of audiological characteristics there is a greater proportion of people with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss with indication for bilateral hearing aids. In Article 2, the sample ranged between 00 and 101 years old, mostly elderly, female, with black or brown skin color/race, with a low level of education and family income of up to 3 minimum wages. The majority lived in the urban area, predominantly in the eastern macro-region of the state of Bahia. As for audiological characteristics, 98.84% had hearing loss, most of which are bilateral. Regarding the degree, type and configuration of hearing loss, no significant difference was observed between the ears and the majority had moderate hearing loss, sensorineural type and descending configuration. The presence of disabling hearing loss was detected in 69.76% of users, and only 9.18% of the sample had previously used hearing aids. In the analysis of the association between disabling hearing loss and sociodemographic variables, they were associated with black and brown race/skin color and age group between 45-60, showing a lower prevalence of disabling hearing loss in the presence of these variables in relation to white people and of other age groups. People with up to 4 years of schooling, living in rural areas and coming from other macro-regions of the state showed a higher prevalence of disabling hearing loss compared to people with more years of schooling, living in urban areas and in the Eastern macro-region of the state. In addition, it was identified that 24.90% of people who entered the service did not complete their auditory rehabilitation processes and in an exploratory analysis, it was associated with low education, when compared to the group with eight years or more of education and a greater chance of dropping out during the process. rehabilitation, among people with profound or total hearing loss. Conclusion: The findings of the study make it possible to reflect on the importance of knowing the population assisted in the hearing health network and the need to carry out new studies that include other hearing health services inserted in the Care Network for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) in the state of Bahia, in order to expand the investigation of user demand in the state and thus be able to propose improvements in care practice, mainly in access and adherence to specialized services.