Academic Journal
Delays in diagnosis and intervention for paediatric hearing loss: the role of parental psychological inflexibility in a multicentre Iranian study.
| Τίτλος: | Delays in diagnosis and intervention for paediatric hearing loss: the role of parental psychological inflexibility in a multicentre Iranian study. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Jafarzadeh S; Department of Audiology, School of Paramedical and rehabilitation Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran., Hadadi Aval M; Department of Audiology, School of Paramedical and rehabilitation Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran., Jamali J; Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran jamalij@mums.ac.ir.; Department of Biostatistics, School of health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. |
| Πηγή: | BMJ paediatrics open [BMJ Paediatr Open] 2026 Jul 16; Vol. 10 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 16. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Observational Study |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101715309 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2399-9772 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 23999772 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMJ Paediatr Open Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: London : BMJ Publishing Group, [2017]- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Parents*/psychology , Hearing Loss*/diagnosis , Hearing Loss*/congenital , Hearing Loss*/therapy , Hearing Loss*/rehabilitation , Delayed Diagnosis*, Humans ; Iran ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Male ; Female ; Child, Preschool ; Treatment Delay ; Infant ; Child ; Cognitive Flexibility |
| Περίληψη: | Objective: To characterise the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) timeline and assess its relationship with psychological inflexibility among parents of children with hearing loss in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. Design: Cross-sectional multicentre study. Setting: Multiple hearing rehabilitation centres in Mashhad, Iran. Patients: A total of 193 parents (71 fathers and 122 mothers) of children with documented congenital hearing loss.Intervention: not applicable (observational study). Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes were the child's age at diagnosis, age at intervention and the diagnosis-to-intervention interval. Parental psychological inflexibility was measured using the validated Persian version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Managing Child Hearing Loss (AAQ-MCHL). Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 16.93±14.63 months and the mean age at intervention was 23.22±15.35 months, resulting in a mean diagnosis-to-intervention interval of 6.43±9.25 months. A weak but significant negative correlation was found between parental age and AAQ-MCHL score (r=-0.171, p=0.014). No significant correlations were found between AAQ-MCHL scores and any EHDI timeline variables (age at diagnosis, age at intervention or diagnosis-to-intervention interval; all p>0.05). Conclusions: Despite universal newborn hearing screening, substantial delays in diagnosis and intervention persist (16.9 and 23.2 months, respectively). Parental psychological inflexibility showed no meaningful association with service timing, suggesting that systemic, social and cultural barriers likely play the dominant role in EHDI delays. (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: No, there are no competing interests. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Early Intervention; Health Services Accessibility; Hearing Loss; Iran; Neonatal Screening; Psychology; Time-to-Treatment |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260716 Date Completed: 20260717 Latest Revision: 20260726 |
| Update Code: | 20260726 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13384137 |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjpo-2025-004203 |
| PMID: | 42463464 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 2399-9772 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjpo-2025-004203 |