Positive Impact of an Educational Brochure on Follow-Up for a Formal Hearing Evaluation.

Background And Objectives: Half of older persons experience serious hearing loss, yet it remains under-assessed in primary care clinics. Providers note time constraints as barriers and patients often minimize or deny their hearing loss. We tested the effectiveness of a simple hearing screen in primary care settings and whether including a brochure describing hearing loss, its consequences, and treatment would increase referrals for formal audiometric assessments.

Simple Tests Compare Well with a Hand-held Audiometer for Hearing Loss Screening in Primary Care.

Objectives: To compare hearing loss screening results of four simple tests with those of hand-held audiometry.

Design: Cross-sectional study of individuals screened during intake for physicals and other routine procedures.

Setting: Two primary care clinics in the San Francisco Bay area.

Hearing loss education for older adults in primary care clinics: Benefits of a concise educational brochure.

Hearing loss, common in older adults, is associated with negative health outcomes but screening rates in primary care clinics are low and individuals screened or referred often do not follow-through. To address these problems, we worked with 2 primary care clinics to design a simple screening and education protocol for integration into a standard office visit. To assess the effectiveness on the education brochure that was developed, we assessed its impact on individuals age 60 or older who screened positive for possible hearing loss.