The level of community behaviour towards hearing loss in Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss is the most common disability in the world, with a prevalence of 5% of the world's population of 466 million people. Knowledge about noise exposure and hearing protection equipment is related to hearing loss. Health is associated with a person's healthy lifestyle behaviour. This study aimed to determine the level of community behaviour towards hearing loss. Methods: This study used a descriptive analytical approach with a cross-sectional study design. The population in this study was Indonesian people who were not healthcare workers aged 17 years and over. The sample inclusion criteria included individuals who were not healthcare workers (such as doctors, nurses and midwives etc.), aged 17 years and over, and willing to participate in the study. The sampling method in this study was consecutive sampling. Results: Based on the distribution of patients, there were more female participants (1484, 61.6%) than male participants. Diploma-3 (D3) was the most common education type, with as many as 1095 people (45.4%), while the least common education type was not in school (eight, 0.3%). Most participants were in the ‘employee’ profession, namely 509 people (21.1%), while the lowest number of participants was in the Police profession (20, 0.8%). There were significant relationships between the respondent's knowledge and action about hearing loss, and the respondent’s knowledge and attitudes regarding hearing loss (p=0.000). Conclusions: There were significant relationships between the respondent's knowledge and actions about hearing loss and the respondent's knowledge and attitude, while there was no significant relationship between the respondent's attitude and actions regarding hearing loss.