19 September 2025
Researchers from The University of Queensland have found that children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families have a 58% higher risk of hearing loss compared to their peers from ethnic majority backgrounds. A group of consumers from CALD backgrounds influenced the research project design, providing their input thanks to a HTQ Consumer and Community Involvement (CCI) microgrant.
PhD student and audiologist Dumini de Silva from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland (UQ) explained that the research team analysed data from families of 1,469 children aged 11-12 living in Australia. Before they did so, they sought input from consumers.
“I applied for a microgrant because, although my project involves analysing secondary data, I wanted to ensure our research questions were relevant, easy to understand, and reached a wide sample of Australia’s CALD population,” Ms de Silva said.
“With support from HTQ, we could involve consumers in an advisory role. Consumers provided input to help formulate and scrutinise research questions, classify CALD status in the study sample, identify correlating factors and outcome measures, and interpret results. They also suggested dissemination strategies.
“Their input significantly shaped the design of our studies. For example, they indicated that considering both the country of birth and the speaking of a language other than English at home is necessary for determining the CALD status of an individual.
“They also suggested selecting study variables based on the primary caregivers' details instead of mothers would capture other caregivers' contribution to decision-making related to the child's health.”
The research team found that there were higher odds of hearing loss among children from CALD communities whose primary caregivers were more recent immigrants and reported a lower level of English language proficiency.
“The longer they resided in Australia, the less likely children from CALD backgrounds were to experience hearing loss,” Ms de Silva said.
“The reasons could be genetic factors, barriers to accessing and using health services, a lack of trust in healthcare institutions and limited availability of interpreting services in hearing clinics.
“For these reasons, we recommended targeted hearing screening programs for school-aged children from recently migrated families.”
Ms de Silva said the next steps involved further investigation into the reasons for hearing loss to help develop prevention strategies, early detection and intervention programs.
"Missed or delayed intervention for hearing loss can have lifelong consequences,” Ms de Silva said.
“We want to help CALD communities understand how common hearing loss is among their children and help them make informed decisions regarding their children’s hearing health.
“We look forward to continuing to work with our CCI advisors from CALD backgrounds to seek their input for other related studies.”
This research was published in Ear and Hearing. More information is available on HTQ's CCI Microgrants Program.
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