KAP OF INDIAN AUDIOLOGISTS FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL NEEDS OF ADULTS WITH HEARING LOSS.

Introduction: Hearing loss results in the breakdown of communication by affecting the ability to engage socially, leading to isolation socially and emotionally. The combination of behavioral, social, emotional, and psychological consequences is expressed as the "psychosocial" impacts of hearing loss. The aim of the study is to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian Audiologists in addressing the psychosocial needs of persons with hearing loss. The objectives are to develop and validate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) questionnaire for Indian Audiologists and to assess the KAP of Indian Audiologists towards the psychosocial needs of persons with hearing loss.

Method: This study included 332 participants in the age group of 25-60 years with a minimum of 2 years of working experience and was divided into 2 phases. The first phase was a qualitative study that focused on the development and validation of the questionnaire including 3 domains. The second phase, was a cross-sectional survey of administering the developed questionnaire to Audiologists pan India through social media platforms using Google Forms.

Results: The results revealed that in the knowledge domain, percentage scores of good, fair, and poor knowledge of Audiologists were 46.98%, 40.06%, and 12.95% respectively. In the attitude domain, percentage scores for positive (81.32%), neutral (17.46%), and negative (1.2%) attitudes to address psychosocial needs were noted. Further, in the practice domain, it was 73.49% for good practice, 23.7% for fair practice, and 2.71% for poor practice.

Conclusion: The outcome of the study clearly revealed the need to expand audiological services for considering and managing the psychological factors caused by hearing loss causing communication problems. Audiologists have evinced interest in attaining more knowledge to improve the attitude they hold and enhance their practice skills. This will enable them to address such needs carefully and provide the best possible counseling and referrals and contributing to overall well-being and quality of life.