LISTEN UP (Locally Integrated Screening and Testing Ear aNd aUral Programme): a feasibility study protocol for a community pharmacy-based ear health intervention

Selina Maree Taylor,Alice Cairns,Efi Mantzourani,Beverley D Glass

doi:10.1186/s40814-021-00856-6

Abstract

BackgroundEar disease is a major cause of preventable hearing loss and is very common in rural communities, estimated to affect 1.3 million Australians. Rural community pharmacists are well placed to provide improved ear health care to people who are unable to easily access a general practitioner (GP). The purpose of this study is to apply an ear health intervention to the rural community-pharmacy setting in Queensland, Australia, to improve the management of ear disease. The aims are the following: (1) to evaluate the feasibility, potential effectiveness and acceptability of a community pharmacy-based intervention for ear health, (2) to evaluate the use of otoscopy and tympanometry by pharmacists in managing ear complaints in community pharmacy and (3) to evaluate the extended role of rural pharmacists in managing ear complaints, with the potential to expand nationally to improve minor ailment management in rural communities.Methods/designThis is a longitudinal pre- and post-test study of a community-pharmacy-based intervention with a single cohort of up to 200 patients from two rural community pharmacies. Usual care practices pertaining to the management of ear complaints will be recorded prior to the intervention for 8 weeks. The intervention will then be piloted for 6 weeks, followed by a 12 month impact study. Patients aged > 13 years presenting to the pharmacies with an ear complaint will be invited to participate. Trained pharmacists will conduct an examination including a brief history, hearing screening, otoscopy and tympanometry assessments. Patients will be referred to a general practitioner (GP) if required, according to the study protocol. Patients will complete a satisfaction survey and receive a follow-up phone call at 7 days to explore outcomes including prescribed medications and referrals. Pharmacists and GPs will complete pre- and post- intervention interviews. Patient, pharmacist and GP data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis for the qualitative data.DiscussionThis study will demonstrate the implementation of a screening and referring ear health intervention in rural community pharmacy. Feasibility, potential effectiveness and acceptability of the intervention will be assessed.Trial registrationAustralian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry Number: ACTRN12620001297910.

Highlights

Ear disease is a major cause of preventable hearing loss and is very common in rural communities, estimated to affect 1.3 million Australians
This paper describes the research protocol of the pilot, LISTEN UP (Locally Integrated Screening and Testing Ear aNd aUral Programme), a rural community pharmacy-based intervention to improve the management of ear health in the community in Australia
Research aims This study aims to: (1) explore the feasibility, potential effectiveness and acceptability of a community pharmacy-based intervention for ear health, (2) evaluate the use of otoscopy and tympanometry by pharmacists in managing ear complaints in community pharmacy and (3) evaluate the extended role of rural pharmacists in managing ear complaints, with potential to expand nationally to improve ear care minor ailment management in rural communities

Summary

Introduction

Ear disease is a major cause of preventable hearing loss and is very common in rural communities, estimated to affect 1.3 million Australians. Rural community pharmacists are well placed to provide improved ear health care to people who are unable to access a general practitioner (GP). There is currently a shortage of health care workers in rural and remote communities able to provide ear health care, which is predicted to worsen in the future [4]. Despite these shortages, there have been a number of innovative models of care developed to utilise consistently accessible health care professionals such as pharmacists to improve ear care [5]. A scoping review of community pharmacist interventions in ear health identified eight studies, whereby pharmacists provided a targeted ear health service, including hearing screening (4 in Australia), an otoscopy pilot study (1 in England) and pharmacy-based ear clinics (1 in USA; 2 in England) [5]

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