OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate healthcare professionals\' awareness of audiology and speech-language pathology (SLP) services in Saudi Arabia.
METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study consisted of two parts. The content of a 20-item paper questionnaire was firstly validated. The full-scale study addressed the aim through distributing questionnaire items among potential participants. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used.
RESULTS: A total of 403 participants completed the questionnaires for the main study. Most of the participants were Saudi citizens (84.1%), aged 18 years - 40 years (84.8%) years, and lived in Riyadh region (76.2%). Allied health professionals (40.2%), physicians (22.6%), nursing (15.4%) and dentistry (11.2%) were the main group of participants working mainly at governmental hospitals (69.2%). Of the total participants, 92.6% and 95.3% reported being fully aware of the services provided by audiologists and SLPs, respectively. No statistically significant association between the specialty of participants and their familiarity with the scope of practice for SLPs and audiologists was determined.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study examined healthcare professionals\' awareness of audiology and SLP services and revealed a high level of awareness.Contribution: The existed level of awareness is expected to facilitate IPP and enhance the quality of care. Still, awareness campaigns about audiology and SLP services are needed to address the existing lack of knowledge among some healthcare professionals.
目的:本研究旨在调查沙特阿拉伯的医疗保健专业人员对听力学和语言病理学(SLP)服务的认识。
方法:本横断面描述性研究由两部分组成。首先验证了20项论文问卷的内容。全面研究通过在潜在参与者中分发问卷项目来解决这一目标。采用描述性统计和卡方检验。
结果:共有403名参与者完成了主要研究的问卷。大多数参与者是沙特公民(84.1%),18岁-40岁(84.8%),生活在利雅得地区(76.2%)。联合卫生专业人员(40.2%),医生(22.6%),护理(15.4%)和牙科(11.2%)是主要在政府医院工作的主要参与者(69.2%)。在所有参与者中,92.6%和95.3%报告完全了解听力学家和SLP提供的服务,分别。确定参与者的专业与他们对SLP和听力学家的实践范围的熟悉程度之间没有统计学上的显着关联。
结论:我们的研究检查了医疗保健专业人员对听力学和SLP服务的认识,并揭示了高水平的认识。贡献:现有的认识水平有望促进IPP并提高护理质量。尽管如此,需要开展有关听力学和SLP服务的宣传活动,以解决一些医疗保健专业人员现有的知识不足的问题。