
Background: The limited involvement of audiologists in occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) management through hearing conservation programmes (HCPs) is a global issue. In low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries such as South Africa, this is also exacerbated by demand versus capacity challenges. Tele-audiology is an option requiring serious deliberation by the audiology community within HCPs in LAMI contexts.Objectives: This scoping review explores if tele-audiology has a potential value in HCPs and reviews what has been documented in the literature on the use of tele-audiology in HCPs.Method: A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. A search was conducted in five electronic bibliographic databases including Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus Medline, ProQuest and Google Scholar and the grey literature to identify publications presenting considerations around tele-audiology in the implementation of HCPs.Results: Findings revealed significant dearth of evidence specific to the use or application of tele-audiology in ONIHL and/or HCPs both within the African context and internationally, despite the purported potential benefit of this service delivery model, particularly in resource-constrained contexts such as LAMI countries. Of the publications deemed potentially relevant to this scoping review, none were found that specifically investigated or addressed the use of tele-audiology in ONIHL or HCPs as their main objective. Nuanced analysis of publications revealed that in the last decade, indication for potential growth in the use of tele-audiology within occupational audiology is indicated.Conclusion: Because of the significant demand versus capacity challenges in LAMI countries, and because of the need for scaling up audiology professionals’ management of HCPs, careful consideration of teleaudiology as a platform to deliver services in these contexts is required.
noise, tele-health, Health Services Accessibility, Mining, resource constrained, South Africa, Professional Role, tele-medicine, Humans, e-practice, occupational, Original Research, audiology availability, Hearing Tests, e-medicine, Oral communication. Speech, Audiology, tele-audiology, Telemedicine, Occupational Diseases, Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced, hearing conservation, P95-95.6, Noise, Occupational, e-health, Audiologists
noise, tele-health, Health Services Accessibility, Mining, resource constrained, South Africa, Professional Role, tele-medicine, Humans, e-practice, occupational, Original Research, audiology availability, Hearing Tests, e-medicine, Oral communication. Speech, Audiology, tele-audiology, Telemedicine, Occupational Diseases, Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced, hearing conservation, P95-95.6, Noise, Occupational, e-health, Audiologists
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 17 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
