Perceptions of the Scope of Practice of Audiology

The primary purpose of this study was to determine which scope of practice roles and responsibilities are attributed to the profession of audiology (AUD) relative to other health care disciplines by a group of health and human services faculty and students.

An online survey inquiring about participant knowledge of different health professions' scopes of practice, and experience with and attitude toward the profession of AUD, was sent to faculty and students in the Western Michigan University College of Health and Human Services. Students also completed two subscales of the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale. Descriptive statistics and chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis analyses evaluating response differences between groups are presented.

Thirty-six faculty and 118 students (48 graduate and 70 undergraduate) completed the survey. AUD was the profession most often associated with all hearing-related scope of practice activities. Speech-language pathology was often associated with hearing-related scope of practice activities. Audiologists were less commonly associated with vestibular, balance, and mobility scope of practice activities. Group was significant for four scope of practice activities. About half of respondents indicated they knew nothing or a little about AUD, and a majority had no or rare interactions with audiologists in class or clinic. Only about half of participants responded they were likely or very likely to refer patients to an audiologist.

Increased knowledge of the scope of practice and exposure to the profession of AUD may benefit other health care professionals and patients, possibly leading to increased interprofessional practice and an increased number of appropriate referrals.