Acompanhamento auditivo e de linguagem na infância: análise de um aplicativo destinado às famílias

Abstract

Introduction: The family has an extremely important role in identifying hearing disorders, especially in the first years of the child's life, and the use of technological resources such as Smartphone applications can favor this process. Objective: To analyze family adherence and the usability of an application as a technological solution for auditory and language follow-up in childhood. Methods: This is an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study, carried out from July 2022 to February 2023. In phase 1, using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS), we analyzed the usability and satisfaction of the application “EI- Escuta Infantil” by 10 judges and 18 users. Phase 2 consisted of applying a knowledge questionnaire about child hearing health, with 200 families residing in three municipalities in the state of São Paulo and one in Rio Grande do Norte, in order to analyze whether there is influence of prior knowledge on adherence to follow-up. mediated by technology. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed using the Software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), with a significance of 5%. Results: The results were organized into two manuscripts. In the judges' evaluation, a mean total score of 74 points was obtained, that is, a score higher than the 50th percentile of the SUS, which demonstrates that the tool presented good usability. In the family members' perception, the SUS median was equivalent to 92.5 points and, following the NPS criteria, 88.8% (n=16) of them would give positive publicity to the product. In phase 2, 103 participants (51.5%) had “little knowledge” and attitudes towards child audiology services were predominantly positive (n= 193; 96.5%). There was no influence of the variables family income, education level and research participant (mother or father) on the level of knowledge in hearing health. Furthermore, of the 200 participants in this phase, 23.5% installed the app, and there was no association between adherence and the level of prior knowledge or with the mode of delivery of public/private or hospital/outpatient neonatal hearing screening. Conclusion: Families' knowledge about children's hearing health is limited, but it does not interfere with adherence to the application. “EI – Escuta Infantil” showed good usability and can be an auxiliary technological solution to improve parents' knowledge on the subject and maximize auditory and language monitoring in childhood.