Hearing health information in Malaysian public schools: a step towards addressing a public health concern.

This study aimed to examine hearing-related information in public school textbooks in Malaysia to gain insight into the country's hearing health education. Qualitative content analysis on all textbooks used in Malaysian public schools in the year 2019 were conducted to identify the content and structure of information delivery through 11 years of formal education. Information related to hearing health was extracted and categorised according to the themes that emerged. Further analysis was done to characterise the usefulness of the information in promoting active hearing care based on the type of information delivered. A total of 148 elementary and secondary school textbooks were reviewed. Fourteen textbooks (4 elementary and 10 secondary levels) were found to have relevant hearing health information covering topics of sound, ear and hearing, noise and hearing loss. The contents were mostly theoretical and lacked information about noise-induced hearing loss and proper hearing care. Minimal hearing health information was present in the Malaysian school curriculum. The content was inadequate for teaching students about hearing loss prevention. Areas of improvement and research are recommended to improve school-based hearing health education in Malaysia.