Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40402433›Full record

SynthesisEuropean geriatric medicine2025

Barriers and enablers to general practitioner referral of older adults to hearing care: a systematic review using the theoretical domains framework.

E C Davine, P A Busby, S Peters, J J Francis, J Z Sarant

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European geriatric medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

E C DavineThe University of Melbourne, 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia. e.davine@unimelb.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-4224-3062
P A BusbyThe University of Melbourne, 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia.
S PetersThe University of Melbourne, 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia.
J J FrancisThe University of Melbourne, 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia.
J Z SarantThe University of Melbourne, 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia.

Funding

National Health and Medical Research Council TRC grant 2015556
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe purpose of this systematic review was to identify and synthesise the literature regarding barriers and enablers affecting general practitioner (GP) referral to hearing care for their older patients (50 years and over).

methodsA search of peer-reviewed articles reporting primary empirical studies was conducted across CINAHL, Ovid Medline and Scopus, with search terms relating to the search domains "General Practitioner", "Referral", "Hearing loss", and "adults aged 50 and older". Qualitative and quantitative studies were included if they reported barriers or enablers to referral. A mixed-methods approach was used to synthesise the findings of the included studies, firstly into the Theoretical Domains Framework of behaviour change, and then into more granular sub-themes.

resultsThe initial search yielded 859 unique studies. Title and abstract screening identified 21 studies of possible relevance, and full text review identified seven studies for inclusion in this review. A total of 19 unique themes were identified and coded to 10 of the 14 domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework; however thematic overlap between studies was low and fewer than half of these themes were consistently identified as either a barrier or enabler. Four main barriers to referral to hearing care were identified: Lack of time, lack of familiarity with diagnostic criteria and tools, lack of knowledge of treatments and higher relative importance of other health conditions.

conclusionThe minimal overlap of themes and low agreement on which of these constitute barriers and enablers for referral indicates a need for further research to provide greater clarity in this area and explain the heterogeneity of these results.

Indexed as

General PractitionersHealth Services AccessibilityHearing LossReferral and ConsultationAgedHumansMiddle AgedAudiologyGeneral practiceHearing carePrimary careReferralTheoretical domains framework

Identifiers

PMID40402433
PMCPMC12378124

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.