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International Ototoxicity Management Group (IOMG)

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IOMG content:

(Click on headers for details)

Overview
The International Ototoxicity Management Working Group (IOMG) is a global consortium of international stakeholders from universities, task forces, health foundations, professional societies, government agencies and patients created to address healthcare gaps in the clinical management of individuals who experience hearing loss, tinnitus, and/or balance difficulties following medical, occupational or environmental exposures to ototoxicants. 

Ototoxicity Management Definition 
  • Hearing and vestibular healthcare management centered on individuals at risk for experiencing hearing loss, tinnitus, or balance problems from exposures to ototoxicants
  • Includes the identification of at-risk patients, and the diagnosis, routine monitoring, rehabilitation and therapeutic management of hearing and balance deficits in affected individuals.

Focus Areas:

Mission Statement
The IOMG will enhance the social participation and quality of life of millions of individuals worldwide by partnering with patients, healthcare providers and external organizations to address gaps in ototoxicity management thereby giving patients and workers greater control over their long-term auditory and vestibular health.

Goals and Objectives
  • Develop a comprehensive set of clinical guidelines, position statements, and tool kits for implementation and health promotion of ototoxicity management that will address current healthcare gaps in relation to best practices
  • Disseminate ototoxicity management materials and toolkits in traditional and non-traditional formats to accommodate specific work environments, healthcare structures, healthcare workers, and patients across the globe.

Guiding Principles
What is ototoxicity management?
Ototoxicity Management (OtoM) involves the management of auditory and balance healthcare for individuals at risk for experiencing hearing loss, tinnitus, or balance problems from exposures to ototoxicants. This management includes the identification of at-risk patients, education and counseling, routine monitoring for symptoms, and the diagnosis, rehabilitation and therapeutic management of hearing and balance deficits in affected individuals.

What is effective ototoxicity management?

 Effective OtoM ensures that auditory and balance care pathways coordinate with the occupational or medical specialty systems that generate the ototoxic exposure to optimize opportunities for informed consent, early detection, and timely rehabilitation and/or treatment of ototoxicity. Effective OtoM engages the at-risk individual in their own ototoxicity management plan, adapted to their specific needs, priorities, and values (patient centered).  In the case of individuals who are too young or otherwise unable to make decisions about their care, the parent or caregiver fills this role.

Why is a global effort needed?

 Despite the well-established physical, socio-economic, and psychological consequences of hearing and balance dysfunction, clinical practice in these situations is not consistent within or across countries:
  • Few healthcare delivery models integrate ototoxicity management into the essential and/or life-preserving care pathways that utilize therapies that unavoidably increase the risk of ototoxicity
  • There are no standard methods for the auditory surveillance of individuals exposed to hazardous chemicals at work
  • A global effort is needed to achieve a global standard of ototoxicity management.
  • A multicultural and interdisciplinary approach is needed to support its application to specific contexts and care pathways, and to create tools for implementation and health promotion within specific contexts. 


Group Roster

Join IOMG: To join this group, please email Hunter Stuehm at Hunter.Stuehm@va.gov. 

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