Search

Background and Aim: Hearing handicap, as one of the common health problems among older people, affects life activities. The Hearing Handicap Questionnaire (HHQ) is one of the scales that provide criteria for social withdrawal, participation restriction, and emotional distress. The present study aims to translate the HHQ into Persian and determine its psychometric properties. Methods: After translation into Persian, the content validity of the questionnaire was determined based on the Lawashe's method. Then, the Persian HHQ (P-HHQ) and the Persian Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly-Screening version (P-HHIE-S) were completed by 110 hearing-impaired seniors (49 females) over 60 years. The concurrent validity was determined by Spearman correlation test, and the discriminant validity was analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test and independent t-test. The test-retest reliability was assessed in 47 subjects after two weeks by Spearman correlation test and paired t-test. Results: The P-HHQ had high face validity. The mean total score of P-HHQ was 1.89±1.05. It had a significant positive correlation with the score of P-HHIE-S (r=0.87) and pure tone average of the better ear (r=0.72). There was a significant difference between three groups of elderly with different degrees of hearing impairment (p<0.001). Cronbach's α values were in the range of 0.94-0.97. There was a strong correlation between test and retest scores of P-HHQ (r=0.97) which indicates a high test-retest reliability. Conclusion: The P-HHQ has acceptable validity and reliability and can be used as a suitable instrument to evaluate hearing handicap of the elderly in research studies and clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hyperacusis is an uncommon hearing disorder, known as increased sensitivity to daily surrounding sounds. This disorder can profoundly affect people's daily activities. The studies conducted about hyperacusis are very limited in Iran. The purposes of this study are the psychometric evaluation of the Persian version of the Hyperacusis Questionnaire (PHQ) and the investigation of its prevalence. Method: This cross-sectional study was accomplished on 203 young university students with normal hearing sensitivity. After translating the questionnaire, the psychometric properties of the PHQ were evaluated by content validity ratio (CVR) and index (CVI) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Students were evaluated by clinical audiology tests, the loudness discomfort level (LDL) measurement, and answering the PHQ. The research data collection was done from April to November 2022. Otoscopy, clinical and speech audiometry, and LDL were all executed, respectively. The participants directly answered the PHQ. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software Version 26. Results: The PHQ demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability, Cronbach's alpha (.81), CVI (> 0.88), and CVR (> 0.98). EFA revealed four dimensions of the questionnaire. Of the participants, four (2%) were identified as suffering from hyperacusis. The PHQ showed the possibility of differences between genders. Conclusions: The psychometric evaluations of the PHQ were found to be acceptable and can be used in future studies. The prevalence of hyperacusis in our sample was 2%, and estimated to be higher in females. These findings suggest the need for further research on hyperacusis in Iranian population and specified studies to compare the two genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]