Use of a hearing and balance screening survey with local primary care physicians.
OBJECTIVE
This investigation is a follow-up to a national survey of hearing/balance screening and referrals in elderly patients by primary care physicians (PCPs). This local study focused on PCPs who actually treated elderly patients and could be contacted and followed in a single community.


METHODS
PCPs in Santa Barbara, CA, were surveyed with a 35-item questionnaire via mailings, phone calls, and hand delivery to determine their participation in, knowledge of, and attitudes toward hearing/balance screening and referrals for the elderly. Potential respondents were 154 PCPs obtained from WebMD, Google, and telephone and provider directories for Santa Barbara. Of the 154 surveys mailed/delivered, 33 were returned undeliverable or unusable, and 32 were returned usable, producing an overall response rate of 26.5%.


RESULTS
Results were similar to those of the national study; PCPs were unlikely to screen for hearing/balance problems unless patients complained. The PCPs were unaware of patient self-report screening methods and probably would not use them in the future.


CONCLUSIONS
These PCPs acknowledged the importance of hearing/balance problems in the elderly, but their responses demonstrated insufficiencies in knowledge and potential attitudinal, time, and reimbursement obstacles that could interfere with their screening for hearing/balance problems. Audiologists should partner with PCPs to improve ways of meeting patients' needs but must consider resource/payoff implications for such endeavours.
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences; 1476 N. Fairview Avenue, Goleta, CA 93117, USA. danhauer@speech.ucsb.edu
Jeffrey L
JL
Danhauer
Kristina E
KE
Celani
Carole E
CE
Johnson
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D006278:Medicare; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States