Audiologists in the covid pandemic: Evaluation of working conditions in A rehabilitation center and hearing aid center

In this study, it was aimed to examine the changes in the working conditions of audiologists and specialist audiologists working in the rehabilitation center and hearing aid center in Turkey during the COVID-19 global epidemic that started in December 2019 and then affected the whole world. Approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Istanbul Gelişim University. A questionnaire form was created to collect data. Survey questions were answered with the Google survey online system. The condition for participation in the study is to be an audiologist or specialist audiologist working in a hearing aid center or rehabilitation center. The questionnaire was answered by 252 Audiologists working in the private sector (hearing aid center and rehabilitation centre). There are no missing answers as all questions must be answered to submit the Google form. The answers collected in the field application of the research were analyzed using the SPSS for Windows 24.00 program. The 17-item "Audiologists in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluation of Working Conditions in the Rehabilitation Center and Hearing Aid Center" scale has a "high reliability" level since it has a total Cronbach's alpha value (0.841). The comparison of the scores of the 4 main sub-dimensions, which were formed as a result of the factor analysis, according to the demographic characteristics was examined by One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and independent sample t-test. Most of the audiologists participating in the study have 1 year or less of working experience and work in a rehabilitation center. Due to the pandemic, almost all audiologists used personal protective equipment and disinfectant products during the study. From the negative effects of the pandemic; The group working for more than 1 year was more affected than the group working for 1 year or less. Again, in this process, audiologists working in the hearing aid center were more adversely affected than the audiologists working in the rehabilitation center. In line with the measures taken specifically for the pandemic, the satisfaction of all groups was found to be close to each other. However, when the negative effects were analyzed on the basis of age groups, it was found higher in the 24 and 25 age groups than in other age groups. The workplace, where the technical knowledge we learned at school turns into useful for people, has become challenging for all occupational groups with the pandemic. Working with the risk of infection, especially in areas that require one-to-one attention with the patient, such as the health sector, has been tiring both psychologically and physiologically. Audiologists, on the other hand, have worked intensively and even outside their field, like all other healthcare professionals, in this risky work area. While the global COVID-19 epidemic continues to affect the whole world, it is critical to increase the level of knowledge of healthcare professionals. Protection of healthcare workers from infection can be ensured by the presence of adequate information and protective equipment. Keywords: Audiology, Audiologist, COVID-19, Pandemic Working Conditions