Time and money may be the biggest challenge for GP hearing care referrals in older adults

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-06-03 01:00

Australia; VIC; QLD

Photo by Mark Paton on Unsplash

A lack of time and resources, and concerns about the cost of hearing care are significant barriers to GPs' referrals in older adults, according to an Aussie study. The researchers conducted a questionnaire of Australian GPs' views on the referral of older adults to hearing care, and found that lack of time in appointments, relying on the patient to raise hearing concerns, the cost of hearing care, and a lack of resources were the biggest barriers to referrals to hearing care specialists. The researchers suggest that GPs feel the main barriers to referral are outside their control - a GP may not have control over the length of appointment a given patient requests, which may in turn be determined by financial or time constraints experienced by the patient. The authors say that interventions aimed at targeting these issues may increase referral rates.

Journal/
conference: Australian Journal of Primary Health

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland

Funder: This research received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, TRC grant 2015556, CI: Julia Sarant). This research was also supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. The funding bodies had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; in the decision to submit the article for publication; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the article.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.