ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2025
Equal access to treatment for hearing loss in Chile: do all people have the same opportunities to receive appropriate treatment? A scoping review.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOver the past two decades, Chile has undertaken numerous initiatives to reform its healthcare system. However, health equity is influenced by factors beyond the healthcare system. Particularly in hearing health, the access to hearing loss treatment has been reported as hampered at many levels. This scoping review aimed to map the available evidence on hearing health to identify local determinants and barriers that may contribute to disparities in access to treatment for hearing loss in Chile.
methodsThe Joanna Briggs Institute guidance for scoping reviews was followed. The PCC mnemonic (Population, Concept, and Context) was used to guide the development of the search strategy. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, Cochrane and Science Direct databases, limited to publications from 2000 to June 2025, with no language nor type of publication restrictions, and was supplemented by manual search. Two independent reviewers screened all retrieved references, assessed the eligibility, and charted data of the eligible publications. Disagreements were solved through discussion with a third reviewer. Basic content analysis was used to identify the local determinants and barriers in access to hearing loss treatment, which were narratively described and presented along visual summary tools.
resultsOf the 940 unique records identified for screening, the full text of 135 publications were assessed and 50 were included in the review. The principal determinants of hearing care were identified as age, and type and degree of hearing loss. Individuals with severe to profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss have access to appropriate treatment at any stage of their lives through publicly funded programs. However, youth and adults with mixed or conductive hearing loss do not have a clear pathway to rehabilitation. Barriers to accessing hearing care services in Chile included lower education and income levels, unemployment, limited awareness of treatment options, insufficient family or social support, and residing in remote areas.
conclusionDespite public health advancements in providing hearing loss treatment, gaps persist in certain populations. Reducing these disparities requires improving access to services, expanding hearing screening, and providing hearing technologies across all ages and for all types and degrees of hearing loss.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.