Parental knowledge and attitudes towards hereditary hearing loss and genetic technology

Introduction: The knowledge and attitudes about genetic hearing loss are essential to prevent more hearing loss incidences in societies. However, limited studies have compared the knowledge and attitude toward genetic technology between parents of normal and impaired-hearing children. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed involving 105 parents with one or more children having a hearing impairment and 204 control parents with children having normal hearing. Parents completed surveys designed to investigate their knowledge and attitudes about the genetic basis of hearing impairment and recent technologies. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to measure response differences between the two groups. Results: Both groups shared the same level of knowledge, with the average knowledge scores of parents with normal-hearing children (9.53/19 +/- 2.56 points) resembling those of parents with hearing-impaired children (10.08/19 +/- 3.17 points; F(1, 307)=-2.17, p=0.14). Moreover, parents had limited information about the genetic basis of hearing loss, specifically in estimating the recurrence of congenital hearing loss (n=26 of 105, 24.76%)and misunderstanding inheritance paradigms (n=24 of 105, 22.86%). Regardless of having children with auditory issues, parents expressed positive attitudes towards genetic testing. Conclusions: These findings suggest that more genetic specialists are needed to educate families of children with hearing loss about the genetic attributes of hearing impairment and the significance of genetic technology.