CHILDREN'S AUDIOLOGICAL FOLLOW-UP IN PRIMARY CARE: ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN APPLICATION FOR MOBILE DEVICES
Community Health Workers; Telemedicine; Hearing; Health Education; Health Promotion.
Introduction: The promotion of hearing health care from the articulation between professionals in Primary Health Care (PHC) and high complexity services tend to reduce public investments in corrective measures of hearing loss. The use of applications for mobile devices for health, proved to be effective, sustainable and accessible even in underdeveloped countries. Objective: To analyze the implementation of the “Agente Escuta” application in the PHC in different contexts at Rio Grande do Norte (RN). Method: This is a pilot study, with a prospective descriptive design, subdivided into two phases: (I) Usability evaluation of the Agente Escuta application: a translational survey; (II) Child hearing health by m-Health in PHC: effectiveness analysis. For usability analysis the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) were used initially by 10 judges. In the continuity of the study, it will be carried out by the target audience, 43 Community Health Workers (CHW) from seven municipalities in RN randomized according to the four mesoregions of the state. In the second phase, with the same sample, the association between the application's effectiveness and previous knowledge about children's hearing health will be investigated, as well as the quality indicators of the proposed program and difficult aspects. Data will be submitted to statistical analysis, with appropriate tests depending on adherence. Expected results: Of the 43 participating CHW, 39.5% (n=17) had undergone previous training in child hearing health and in the pre-intervention questionnaire they had better performance (𝑥̅=19,47; 𝜎=3,45; Md=20), thus, it is expected that the application has adequate usability and provides an effective program in PHC, with possible influence of previous training.