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Ear Portal: An urban-based ear, nose, and throat, and audiology referral telehealth portal to improve access to specialist ear-health services for children

Shortage of ear, nose, and throat specialists in public hospitals can result in delays in the detection and management of otitis media. This study introduced a new hospital-based telehealth service, named the Ear Portal, and investigated its role in improving access to specialist care.

The prevalence of and potential risk factors for Developmental Language Disorder at 10 years in the Raine Study

This study sought to determine the prevalence of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in Australian school-aged children and associated potential risk factors for DLD at 10 years.

Ear and Hearing Health

The Ear and Hearing Health team's vision is all children start primary school with good hearing.

Aural toilet (ear cleaning) for chronic suppurative otitis media

This is the first update of a Cochrane review published in 2020. Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), sometimes referred to as chronic otitis media, is a chronic inflammation and often polymicrobial infection of the middle ear and mastoid cavity, characterised by ear discharge (otorrhoea) through a perforated tympanic membrane. The predominant symptoms of CSOM are ear discharge and hearing loss. Aural toileting describes processes for manually cleaning the ear, including dry mopping (with cotton wool or tissue paper), suction clearance (typically under a microscope), or irrigation (using manual or automated syringing). Aural toileting can be used alone or in addition to other treatments for CSOM, such as antibiotics or topical antiseptics. This is one of a suite of seven Cochrane reviews evaluating the effects of non-surgical interventions for CSOM. 

“You’re telling us to go first?!” COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination experiences among Aboriginal adults in Western Australia

Globally, Indigenous populations have been disproportionately impacted by pandemics. In Australia, though national infection rates with COVID-19 infections in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were lower in the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was soon a greater burden in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island people once Omicron was circulating. Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine was also lower among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.

“We've wanted to vaccinate against it and now we can”: views of respiratory syncytial virus disease and immunisation held by caregivers of Aboriginal children in Perth, Western Australia

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infection with a higher burden in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and children. We conducted a pilot qualitative study identifying disease knowledge and willingness to immunise following the changing immunisation landscape for infant RSV in 2024.

Development, construct validity and utility of a cross-culturally adapted Otitis Media-6 (OM-6) questionnaire for urban Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children

Tamara Chris Valerie Veselinovic Brennan-Jones Swift BSc(Hons) MClinAud PhD PhD Clinical Research Fellow Head, Ear and Hearing Health Aboriginal

Paediatric post-grommets surgery review: Audiology-led clinic

Otitis media has a high prevalence in childhood, and grommet insertion is the most common surgical treatment for OM. The public health system in Australia faces considerable strains, including high demand for Ear, Nose and Throat specialists. Extending the scope of practice for audiologists to manage post-operative care for children receiving grommets has the potential to alleviate this burden.

The use of tranexamic acid in paediatric adenotonsillectomy – A systematic review and meta-analysis

Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy are two of the most commonly performed ENT procedures in children, with over 500,000 cases performed annually in the United States. Whilst generally considered a safe and well-tolerated operation, it is not without its risks and complications including pain, nausea, anorexia and most importantly bleeding and post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage.

High rates of suppurative otitis media among children attending urban clinics in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional study

Otitis media (OM) is the leading cause of childhood hearing loss but its burden in low-middle-income countries like Papua New Guinea (PNG) is poorly understood. We aimed to determine the proportion of children aged ≤15 years attending clinics in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, PNG with OM and associated risk factors.