The Health Advocate Role (cont.)

Preparing future physicians for socially responsive practice

Brian Westerberg

Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, UBC

Otolaryngologist, St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver

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pproximately 30 million North Americans have speech- frequency hearing loss, and its prevalence among young adults is growing. Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) educational programs targeting elementary school children, as at that age they become exposed to noise during recreational activities such as the use of portable and personal music devices, toys, gunfire, firecrackers, lawnmowers, power tools, dance clubs, rock concerts, and musical instruments. We assessed the short- and long- term efficacy of a hearing conservation program in changing the hearing loss prevention behaviours in elementary school children. Our study used Sound Sense, an educational program created by The Hearing Foundation of Canada, as an intervention.

Sixteen Vancouver School Board schools volunteered to partici- pate in the study. The schools were randomized to either an intervention or a control group. A total of 846 grade six students (ages 9-13) were recruited to participate in the study, with 451 students in the control group and 395 students in the intervention group.

The Hearing Foundation of Canada’s Sound Sense youth NIHL prevention program showed significant short- and long-term efficacy in changing the hearing loss prevention behaviours in elementary school children. Noise-induced hearing loss is a disabling, incurable condition that presents years after noise exposure. With evidence to show it is occurring at a younger age possibly due to increased noise expo- sure in youth, appropriate educational programs with established efficacy that not only improve attitudes towards using ear protection but also result in behavioural modification in youths are required.

The clinical significance of our work is obvious when compared to another widely accepted educational intervention, smoking cessation counselling by a physician. Physician advice on smoking cessation results in unassisted quitting rates at 6 months of 2-3%, which is accepted to be clinically significant. Sound sensetm resulted in rates of improvement of 1-6% at 2 weeks and 1-3% in 6 months in earplug use in grade six students during activities with different degrees of noise exposure, which is indeed similar to the improvement in quitting rates of smoking following physician advice.

The development, implementation and evaluation of a community-based health promotion project around hearing loss can serve as a tremendous opportunity for otolaryngology residents to develop their knowledge and skills around the canmeds Health Advocate Role.

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