{"title":"Knowledge, Beliefs, and Treatment Practices for Otitis Media in Malawi: A Community-Based Assessment.","authors":"Enittah Chikuse, Derek Jacobs, Angella Banda, Julia Toman, Jenna Vallario, Danielle Curtis, J Zachary Porterfield","doi":"10.3390/audiolres15020038","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hearing-related disease is a significant cause of disability worldwide. In resource-limited settings, prevention and early detection are critical for preventing severe disease. Understanding what a population knows and believes with regards to hearing health can be critical in identifying knowledge gaps and developing targeted interventions.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To assess community awareness of hearing health and otitis media (OM) treatment, both modern and traditional, to inform educational programs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective review of clinical records from 52 patients (aged 1-79 years) diagnosed with OM during a 3-day hearing health clinic in Kasungu district, Malawi was conducted. Patients diagnosed with OM during the clinic were invited to provide additional details about their hearing health. Surveys contained open-ended questions to assess knowledge and beliefs regarding the cause of their infection and therapies they had previously used for treatment, including home remedies and prescribed medications from allopathic providers or traditional healers. A WHO adapted survey on hearing knowledge was also administered.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Hearing loss was identified in 60% of participants. Otoscopy revealed either bilateral or unilateral drainage in 69% of participants and perforation in 73%. Confidence in understanding the causes and treatments of OM was voiced by 60% of participants and 54% had used home remedies as treatment. Of the 11 home remedies used, none aligned with modern medical practice, and only two were recommended by local herbalists.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Hearing-related disease contributes significantly to global disability, particularly in resource-limited settings. Educational campaigns to improve hearing health knowledge offer low-cost yet impactful solutions and implementation via partnerships with community leaders and traditional healers can be critical to addressing hearing health challenges. The use of nonantibiotic antimicrobials should be explored further, as these are low-cost and readily available. However, therapeutic alliance between patients and healthcare providers remains crucial.</p>","PeriodicalId":44133,"journal":{"name":"Audiology Research","volume":"15 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12024340/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Audiology Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres15020038","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Hearing-related disease is a significant cause of disability worldwide. In resource-limited settings, prevention and early detection are critical for preventing severe disease. Understanding what a population knows and believes with regards to hearing health can be critical in identifying knowledge gaps and developing targeted interventions.
Objective: To assess community awareness of hearing health and otitis media (OM) treatment, both modern and traditional, to inform educational programs.
Methods: A retrospective review of clinical records from 52 patients (aged 1-79 years) diagnosed with OM during a 3-day hearing health clinic in Kasungu district, Malawi was conducted. Patients diagnosed with OM during the clinic were invited to provide additional details about their hearing health. Surveys contained open-ended questions to assess knowledge and beliefs regarding the cause of their infection and therapies they had previously used for treatment, including home remedies and prescribed medications from allopathic providers or traditional healers. A WHO adapted survey on hearing knowledge was also administered.
Results: Hearing loss was identified in 60% of participants. Otoscopy revealed either bilateral or unilateral drainage in 69% of participants and perforation in 73%. Confidence in understanding the causes and treatments of OM was voiced by 60% of participants and 54% had used home remedies as treatment. Of the 11 home remedies used, none aligned with modern medical practice, and only two were recommended by local herbalists.
Conclusions: Hearing-related disease contributes significantly to global disability, particularly in resource-limited settings. Educational campaigns to improve hearing health knowledge offer low-cost yet impactful solutions and implementation via partnerships with community leaders and traditional healers can be critical to addressing hearing health challenges. The use of nonantibiotic antimicrobials should be explored further, as these are low-cost and readily available. However, therapeutic alliance between patients and healthcare providers remains crucial.
期刊介绍：
The mission of Audiology Research is to publish contemporary, ethical, clinically relevant scientific researches related to the basic science and clinical aspects of the auditory and vestibular system and diseases of the ear that can be used by clinicians, scientists and specialists to improve understanding and treatment of patients with audiological and neurotological disorders.
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