Management of Speech and Hearing in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries: Current Conditions, Problems, Future...

Management of speech and hearing issues in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been challenging, considering the population size and availability of resources. There is a need to investigate the depth of these challenges and explore the efficacy of strategies to overcome them. This review aimed to delineate the speech and hearing issues in individuals with cleft lip and palate and how they have been managed in the context of LMICs. Keywords were developed based on the objectives of the study to search for literature published during the period 2010 to 2023. Articles from PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and ProQuest databases were retrieved using appropriate keyword searches. The titles and abstracts were screened to delete the unsuitable articles. Relevant gray literature and hand-searched articles published were also included. The findings are summarized under the following heads in the context of LMICs: incidence and severity of speech and hearing issues, challenges, and barriers in providing speech and hearing services, methods of developing manpower and training, methods of assessing speech and hearing outcomes, service delivery models employed, and the recent advances relating to management of speech and hearing. A wide range of topics revolving around managing speech and hearing issues in individuals with cleft lip and palate has been researched in the context of LMICs. Scattered and fragmented solutions have been provided to overcome the varied challenges in LMICs. The gaps in the literature and the future directions for research have been identified.