The report from a paediatric audiology assessment is a lasting record of clinical events and a channel for sharing information about hearing loss, but we lack information about current practices in this area.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists writing paediatric assessment reports should consider supplementing degree-based classifications with functional descriptions, as the study highlights inconsistent reporting practices that may hinder multidisciplinary communication and family understanding.
Standardising how paediatric hearing loss is described in clinical reports could improve care coordination across education, speech-language pathology, and medical teams, and better inform families.
- 01Retrospective chart review published in International Journal of Audiology examining paediatric audiology reporting practices.
- 02Study contrasts degree-based labels (e.g., mild, moderate) with functional descriptions of how hearing loss affects daily life.
- 03Findings highlight inconsistency and gaps in standardised reporting across clinical assessment reports.
- 04Inconsistent descriptions may impair communication between audiologists, educators, and families.
- 05Results support calls for clearer, more unified reporting frameworks in paediatric audiology.
Clinical assessment reports for paediatric hearing loss show gaps in standardised use of degree-based and functional descriptions.
studypartially supportedFunctional descriptions of hearing loss provide information that degree-based classifications alone do not capture for paediatric patients.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42764520
- DOI
- 10.1080/14992027.2026.2732559.
- Journal
- International Journal of Audiology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Paediatric patients with hearing loss whose clinical assessment reports were available for retrospective chart review
- Intervention
- Degree-based versus functional descriptions of paediatric hearing loss in clinical reports
- Comparator
- Degree-based descriptions (e.g., mild, moderate, severe hearing loss classifications)
Primary outcomes
Frequency and consistency of degree-based descriptions in clinical reports; Frequency and consistency of functional descriptions in clinical reports; Identification of gaps in standardised reporting practices