Original Article: JRCRS 2019; 7(2): 47-53
2-Awareness and Knowledge of Audiologists Regarding Benefits of Speech-Language Therapy for Hearing Impaired Individuals
Faiza Intezar1, Sikander Ghayas Khan2, Hafsa Noreen3, Nayab Iftikhar4
1Physiotherapist, Govt. Special Education Center, Sialkot.
2,3Help Rehabilitation Center, Lahore.
4Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital.
Abstract:
Objective: To investigate the knowledge and awareness of audiologists regarding the benefits of speech-language therapy for hearing impaired individuals.
Methodology: Cross-sectional Survey study conducted at the Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Riphah College of Rehabilitation Science Lahore, Riphah International University Islamabad from October 2014 to April 2015. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey through a questionnaire (developed by literature review and experts opinion), including two aspects. The target population was the male and female qualified Audiologists working with hearing impaired individuals in the tertiary care units and private clinics of Lahore, Pakistan. The authors circulated the questionnaire to 63 Audiologists of Lahore, and a total of 60 Audiologists responded back. The response rate was 95.2 %. The data was statistically analyzed through SPSS-16.
Results: There is significant knowledge and awareness of audiologists regarding benefits of speech-language therapy for hearing impaired individuals. There is a strong correlation between audiologists’ Understanding Regarding General Speech Therapy (URGST) and their awareness about the benefits of speech therapy for hearing impaired (ASTHI). There was no significant effect found of type (Private, Public and Both) nature of clinic (unidisciplinary, multidisciplinary) on Understanding Regarding General Speech Therapy (URGST) and Awareness about benefits of Speech Therapy for Hearing Impaired (ASTHI) in audiologists.
Conclusion: There was found significant awareness and knowledge regarding the benefits of Speech-Language therapy for hearing impaired individuals among audiologists. There was a strong correlation between audiologists’ Understanding Regarding General Speech Therapy (URGST) and Awareness about benefits of Speech Therapy for Hearing Impaired (ASTHI).