الفهرس 
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Abstract
Hearing is critical to speech and language development, communication, and learning. Children with listening difficulties due to hearing loss or auditory processing problems continue to be under-identified and underserved populations. Hearing loss occurs in a child’s life, the more serious the effects on the child’s development. Similarly, the earlier the problem is identified and intervention began, the less serious the ultimate impact (Leonard, 2014).
Aim of the study
• The current study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of caregivers regarding children with hearing impairment.
Research Design:
A cross-sectional descriptive research design was utilized in this study.
Setting:
This study was conducted at Alamel School for the deaf and hearing impairment at Minia.
Study population:
Family caregivers of children with hearing impairment were recruited to participate via a selective random sample technique from October to December 2018. Caregivers were recruited based on the following criteria: a) caregivers of children with hearing impairment; b) caregivers of children studying at Alamel School for the Deaf and Hearing impairment at Minia city; c) aged 18 years or more. Among the total 213 primary caregivers eligible for the study, and 200 participants were enrolled in the current study.
Data Collection Tool:
First tool:
Interviewing structured questionnaires which were designed by the researcher and contained two parts:
- 1st part demographic and baseline characteristics of the study participants’ sheet was attached with the tool to get information about caregivers and children at Alamel School
- 2ndpart was including caregivers’ knowledge questionnaire regarding hearing impairment, it was used to assess general knowledge of caregiver about hearing impairment via 24 questions.
Second Tool (Attitude Scale):-
It was used to assess caregiver’s attitudes regarding children with hearing impairment by using an attitude scale. It was adopted from Oketch (1982) and modified to suit the situation in Egypt. It was consist of twenty-four items, used to find out attitudes of caregivers. It measures feelings, beliefs, and behavior of caregivers towards children with hearing impairment.
Pilot Study:-
Before starting to collect the data, a pilot study was carried out on 20 caregivers to test the feasibility and the applicability of the questionnaire, and to identify the most suitable time to collect data. The results of the pilot study were not included in the study results because some changes were applied to the questionnaire to clarify some questions.
Data collection procedure:
The researcher establishes rapport with the director of Alamel School, to obtain informed consent after explaining the importance and purpose of the study and obtained all permissions to collect data.
All needed sheets of the tool were printed, and data were collected from the caregivers.
The data were collected through three months from the beginning of October to the ending of December 2018.
The researcher was visited the school two days/week at official school time from 8 Am: 12Pm.
The researcher interviewed participants of times of school day. The participants spent time to fill the questionnaire ranged from 25 to 30 minutes according to the needed explanation. Measures were taken to protect the ethical rights of the participant.
A review of the related literature which covers various aspects of the problem was done, using different books, journals, and web sites, to get knowledge of hearing impairment including definition, causes, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and attitude of caregivers regarding child impairment.
The present study revealed the following main results:
70% of caregivers had inadequate knowledge about hearing impairment.
Mean score of caregiver knowledge were 91.9±3.7
There is a positive attitude of the caregiver reported that hearing-impaired children can be manageable if helped and supported.
Mean score of caregiver attitude were 92.0±3.4
There is a highly statistically significant difference as regards the level of knowledge of caregivers and residence.
Conclusion
The current study concluded that:
• Thought, the majority of caregivers had a positive attitude towards children with hearing impairment, 70% of them had inadequate knowledge about hearing impairment.
Recommendation:
In light of the results of this study, the following recommendations were suggested:
• Health education programme for family with children hearing impairment at Minia city.
• Conduct different in-service educational programs for the maternal child health centers (nurses and physicians), regarding the importance of health education to pregnant women especially women with a history of child impairment (screening tests for early detection of hearing impairment).
• Design and disseminate related booklets and brochures to raise caregivers and public awareness regarding child hearing impairment.