Parent Perspectives of Ear Health and the Relationship with Children’s Speech and Language in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children
Anita Morrow,
Neil Orr,
Kai Nash,
Harvey Coates,
Cara Cross,
John Robert Evans,
Hasantha Gunasekera,
Samantha Harkus,
Linda Harrison,
Sharynne McLeod,
Catherine McMahon,
Katie Neal,
Andrea Salins,
Rona Macniven
Affiliations
Anita Morrow
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Neil Orr
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Kai Nash
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Harvey Coates
School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Cara Cross
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
John Robert Evans
Moondani Toombadool Centre, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Hasantha Gunasekera
Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Samantha Harkus
National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Linda Harrison
Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Sharynne McLeod
Charles Sturt University, Panorama Ave, Bathurst, NSW 2795, Australia
Catherine McMahon
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Katie Neal
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Andrea Salins
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Rona Macniven
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University Hearing, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Health and well-being are holistic concepts that are perceived to be inseparable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We examined relationships between parent-reported ear symptoms for 787 Indigenous children at two time points (age 2–3 years, age 4–5 years) and two parent-reported speech and language outcomes one year later (age 5–6 years). Most parents (80.2%) reported no concern about their child’s expressive language and (93.8%) receptive language. Binary logistic regression models examined ear health as a predictor of children’s expressive and receptive speech and language adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariates. For children without parent-reported ear symptoms, there were lower odds of parental concern about expressive speech and language (aOR = 0.45; 95% CI 0.21–0.99) and receptive language (aOR = 0.24; 95% CI 0.09–0.62). Parents were less likely to have concerns about the child’s expressive speech and language if their child was female, lived in urban or regional areas, had excellent or very good global health, or had no disability when aged 2–5 years. Since parent-reported ear health and speech and language concerns were related, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children could benefit from culturally safe, strength-based, and family-centered integrated speech, language, and ear health services.
