Influence of educational level of families of hard of hearing children and adolescents on their informational needs: descriptive study

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To evaluate the influence of education of guardians of hard of hearing children with formal education levels from elementary to high school, in relation to their information needs in the context of an auditory rehabilitation service.

Methods

Cross-sectional, observational study, with a convenience sample of 58 guardians of children with hearing loss. The Family Needs Inventory (INF) was applied, translated, and adapted into Brazilian Portuguese, and parents’ education was collected, in addition to the variables age of the child and age at diagnosis.

Results

In the quantitative analysis of the “yes” responses from the INF, all the families presented need for information , and for families with less education, the need for information about hearing and hearing devices was greater. In the regression analysis, there was no influence of schooling on the amount of information needed, even considering the chronological age and diagnosis of the child in the model. As limitations of this study, we highlight the absence of sufficient number of families with higher education for the analysis of the final model, as well as the impossibility of including other variables in the analysis.

Conclusion

The analyzed families with different levels of schooling showed need for information , and schooling did not influence the amount of information required by them. It was possible to observe a qualitative difference in the topics of needed information, which alerts to the importance of investigation about the needs of families in child auditory rehabilitation programs, to implement more family-centered approaches.

Keywords:
Family; Child; Hearing loss; Correction of hearing impairment; Needs assessment