The reliability and validity of the turkish version of hearing environments and reflection on quality of life

The negative effects of hearing loss on language development, academic skills, communication with the social environment and physical health can affect the quality of life in children and adolescents. Tools that evaluate the self-perception are important in evaluating the quality of life in hearing impaired children and adolescents. Among these, there are very few assessment tools developed specifically for individuals with hearing loss. HEAR-QL-26 child version and HEAR-QL-28 adolescent version of the Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL), is the first assessment tool in the literature to evaluate the quality of life hearing impaired children and adolescents and is widely used. The objective of the present study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the HEAR-QL-26 and HEAR-QL-28. The study included 249 children (130 hearing impaired, 119 normal hearing) for the child version of HEAR-QL-26, 249 adolescents between the ages of 12-17 years (140 hearing impaired, 109 normal hearing) for the HEAR-QL-28 adolescent version. 498 subjects were included in the present study, totaly. After the application of the HEAR-QL, the Child and Adolescent Quality of Life Scale (PedsQL), which is valid and reliable for the structure of these measurement tools, was applied for all subjects. Data recording forms containing demographic information of children and adolescents were filled. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied to determine whether the factor structure of the HEAR-QL-26 child version and the HEAR-QL-28 adolescent version in the original scale development study was confirmed in the sample of the native Turkish speakers. In addition to the CFA, a differential validity study has been carried out showing whether the measurement tool makes a difference in various clinical/demographic groups. The criterion validity was tested by examining the correlation between the PedsQL test, which was considered as the reference test, and the HEAR-QL versions. It has been observed that the HEAR-QL versions scores can distinguish groups that differ in terms of quality of life. Internal consistency analysis and test-retest reliability methods were used to evaluate the reliability of the scales. In line with the findings of the study, it was concluded that the HEAR-QL-26 child and HEAR-QL-28 adolescent versions are valid and reliable tools that can be applied to children and adolescents with hearing loss.