Knowledge and experience of paramedics concerning patients with hearing and visual disability

BMC Emergency Medicine

Research

Reem Aquil¹  Raghad Almotairy¹  Rahaf Aldulhum¹  Ghada Alkharaan¹  Albatool Alghamdi¹  Abdullah Alshibani²  Sara Alsuwais²  Nesrin Alharthy³ 

[1] Emergency Medical Services Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Emergency Medical Services Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Pediatrics Emergency Department, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: Hearing disorders;    Vision disorders;    Emergency medical services;    Prehospital;    Communication;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12873-023-00866-y

 received in 2022-12-28, accepted in 2023-08-08,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundA 2017 nationwide disability survey conducted by the General Authority of Statistics in Saudi Arabia, a sample representing the whole population living in Saudi Arabia, reported that approximately 5% and 2% of the Saudi population suffers from visual or hearing impairments, respectively. Patients with these disabilities find it difficult to convey their medical history and chief complaints to paramedics, causing communication breakdowns that can lead to misinterpretation of patient history, leave medical problems unaddressed, and reduce patient engagement and autonomy. We aimed to assess paramedics’ knowledge, attitude, and level of confidence when managing patients with visual or hearing problems.MethodsDescriptive cross-sectional design was used to report the knowledge and experience of paramedics towards patients with hearing/vision disabilities in Saudi Arabia. A validated questionnaire was distributed to our study sample of paramedics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 01, July 2020 and 31, December 2020. Ethical approval was obtained from King Abdullah International Medical Research Center.ResultsNinety-seven participants completed the survey. Male paramedics accounted for 77% of the study participants; 24% were Saudi Red Crescent employees, and 57% were 20–25 years old. Most participants encountered 1–5 cases of patients with hearing disability (55%) as well as patients with visual disability (48%) during their career. Taking medical history was a challenge indicated by 42% of the participants, and 30% reported difficulties in explaining procedures. Of the participants, 44% were confident in handling patients with hearing or visual impairment. There was a strong association between participants who indicated higher confidence levels and those who had obtained specific training for patients with hearing or visual impairments.ConclusionAssisting patients with hearing or visual impairments is challenging, especially during an emergency. We recommend programs that provide specific training in handling hearing or visually impaired patients to close the communication gap in emergent medical situations handled by paramedics or other emergency medicine doctors and nurses.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

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