Training visiting nurses increased hearing screening in a short follow-up trial
An education program improved nurses' screening practice, knowledge and confidence; the abstract does not report changes in older adults' hearing or wellbeing.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Visiting nurses offered hearing-care lectures and technical exercises were more likely to implement hearing screening than controls during follow-up. Knowledge and confidence also improved. The measured benefits concerned nursing practice and skills; the abstract does not show that older adults heard better, experienced better quality of life or avoided other health problems.
This abstract-based summary lacks absolute screening rates, details of the control condition and patient hearing outcomes. The odds ratio describes relative odds of screening implementation and cannot show how many additional patients were screened.
What researchers found
Nurses' implementation of hearing screening
Education versus control over 3 months; the estimate concerns screening practice, not patients' hearing.
How the program was tested
Nursing stations were assigned to education or control groups. The program combined on-demand lectures with practical exercises, and researchers assessed hearing-care implementation alongside nurses' knowledge and confidence during follow-up.
What the estimate means
The reported odds ratio favored education, but the abstract does not give screening rates in either group. It therefore cannot tell readers the absolute change in screening or whether newly screened patients benefited.
The original publication
Effect of a hearing loss care education program for older adults targeted at visiting nurses: A cluster randomized controlled trial.
Nabeshima S, Sugiura S, Yamada K et al.
PLoS One · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41592081
- Record checked
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