ABSTRACT
Purpose:
This paper presents the methodology and research tools of a self-reported household survey of speech, language, swallowing and hearing (SLS-H) disorders implemented in southern Brazil.
Methods:
For the conduction of the study itself, a long step of planning and pilot activities was conducted. This included selection and training of field staff, development, test and retest measurement instrument of self- reported SLS-H disorders and approach techniques and completion of the questionnaires have been tested and applied, because of the complexity of the study.
Results:
The average time of interview varied from 35 to 15 minutes depending of interviewers experience and for both groups after some fieldwork the average time spent declined. The occurrence of “do not know or didn't inform” answer ranged from 0.2% (95% CI 0.0;1.6) and 6.1% (95% CI 2.8;11.3). Its lowest occurrence was for questions relating to the history of hoarseness and tinnitus by proxys. Incidence was higher for the question related to the perception of change in vocal emission associated with aging.
Conclusion:
Household survey is feasible and relevant to verify the burden of SLS-H disorders in the general population, although it required extensive knowledge of the study, selection and ongoing training of interviewers to increase the chance of participation, and logistics for the analysis and classification of the information collected.
Keywords:
Epidemiology; Health surveys; Speech, Language and Hearing sciences; Voice; Speech; Hearing
