Trial reportBMJ open2017
Feasibility and acceptability of training community health workers in ear and hearing care in Malawi: a cluster randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of the Patient-Specific Functional Scale for monitoring paediatric injury patients at a zonal referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
- Access to ear and hearing care services in Cambodia: a qualitative enquiry into experiences of key informants.The Journal of laryngology and otology · 2024Article
- Hearing Health Awareness and the Need for Educational Outreach Amongst Teachers in Malawi.Audiology research · 2023Article
- Article
- Outcomes of Training Nurses Engaged in a Public Sector Newborn Hearing Screening Program in South India.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2022Article
- Implementation Science: Increasing the Public Health Impact of Audiology Research.American journal of audiology · 2022Review
- Feasibility of community health workers as teleaudiology patient-site facilitators: a multilevel training study.International journal of audiology · 2021Article
- Community health worker-based hearing screening on a mobile platform: A scalable protocol piloted in Haiti.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2020Article
- Panel 6: Otitis media and associated hearing loss among disadvantaged populations and low to middle-income countries.International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology · 2020Article
- Training for hearing care providers.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2019Article
- An Intervention to Improve Uptake of Referrals for Children with Ear Disease or Hearing Loss in Thyolo District, Malawi: Acceptability and Feasibility.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- The role of community health workers in addressing the global burden of ear disease and hearing loss: a systematic scoping review of the literature.BMJ global health · 2019Article
- Integrated home-based screening for people living with disabilities: A case study from rural Malawi.African journal of disability · 2019Article
- Developing Behaviour Change Interventions for Improving Access to Health and Hygiene for People with Disabilities: Two Case Studies from Nepal and Malawi.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Effectiveness of an ear and hearing care training program for frontline health workers: A before and after study.Annals of African medicineArticle
- Impact of indian public health standards for rural health care facilities on national programme for control of deafness in India: The results of a cohort study.Journal of family medicine and primary careArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the feasibility and acceptability of training community health workers (CHWs) in ear and hearing care, and their ability to identify patients with ear and hearing disorders.
designCluster randomised controlled trial (RCT).
settingHealth centres in Thyolo district, Malawi.
participantsTen health centres participated, 5 intervention (29 CHWs) and 5 control (28 CHWs).
interventionIntervention CHWs received 3 days of training in primary ear and hearing care, while among control CHWs, training was delayed for 6 months. Both groups were given a pretest that assessed knowledge about ear and hearing care, only the intervention group was given the posttest on the third day of training. The intervention group was given 1 month to identify patients with ear and hearing disorders in their communities, and these people were screened for hearing disorders by ear, nose and throat clinical specialists. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measure was improvement in knowledge of ear and hearing care among CHWs after the training. Secondary outcome measures were number of patients with ear or hearing disorders identified by CHWs and number recorded at health centres during routine activities, and the perceived feasibility and acceptability of the intervention.
resultsThe average overall correct answers increased from 55% to 68% (95% CI 65 to 71) in the intervention group (p<0.001). A total of 1739 patients with potential ear and hearing disorders were identified by CHWs and 860 patients attended the screening camps, of whom 400 had hearing loss (73 patients determined through bilateral fail on otoacoustic emissions, 327 patients through audiometry). Where cause could be determined, the most common cause of ear and hearing disorders was chronic suppurative otitis media followed by impacted wax. The intervention was perceived as feasible and acceptable to implement.
conclusionsTraining was effective in improving the knowledge of CHW in ear and hearing care in Malawi and allowing them to identify patients with ear and hearing disorders. This intervention could be scaled up to other CHWs in low-income and middle-income countries. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (201705002285194); Results.
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