Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Childhood Hearing Loss Among Parents in Western Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Childhood hearing loss (HL) can severely hinder social, cognitive, and communication skills. Parental awareness and knowledge have a significant impact on the results and repercussions. The purpose of this study is to assess parents' attitudes and knowledge about childhood HL in Western Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was adapted from a previously validated survey. It was translated into Arabic and culturally adapted to the Saudi context after expert review. The tool consisted of three sections: informed consent, demographic information, and assessment of parents' knowledge and attitudes toward childhood HL, and it was distributed over social media between July and August of 2024. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 29 (Released 2022; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States) was used to analyze the data. Our study of 522 participants revealed that parents in Western Saudi Arabia have good knowledge and positive attitudes regarding childhood HL. Most parents supported the use of hearing aids (96%, n=501) and cochlear implants (92.7%, n=484). However, 20% of parents expressed negative attitudes toward newborn hearing screening tests. Socioeconomic factors significantly influenced awareness levels, with higher family income predicting more positive attitudes toward hearing aids (B=0.623, p=0.045). Age also impacted both knowledge (p=0.004) and attitudes (p=0.020), with younger parents demonstrating greater awareness and more positive perspectives. The primary sources of information were doctors/health centers (28%) and social media applications (27%). Parents in Western Saudi Arabia showed a high level of awareness and favorable attitudes about childhood HL. To fill in the identified information gaps about childhood HL, a few educational initiatives are still required.