Turkish validity and reliability study of the questionnaire for the evaluation of the impact of hearing loss in adults

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Turkish validity and reliability of the Evaluation of the Impact of Hearing Loss in Adults (EİKED) questionnaire. A total of 200 individuals with hearing loss were included in the study (103 M, 97 F, mean age: 41.61 ±14.71 years). For validity analysis, construct validity and external validity analysis were performed. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were applied in the construct validity analysis. In the external validity analysis, the correlation between EİKED and APHAB was evaluated. In the reliability analysis, internal consistency and test-retest analyses were applied. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach α coefficient. In the test-retest reliability analysis, the stability levels of the subcomponents of the EİKED were calculated. In the construct validity analysis, the factor structure (EFA) of all subcategories of the EİKED questionnaire and the fit indices (CFA) of all subcategories were found to be acceptable. In the external validity analysis, correlations were obtained between all subcategories of the EIKED questionnaire and all subcategories of the APHAB questionnaire (r: 0.622 to -0.16, P < 0.05). The highest positive correlation was found between the EİKED professional life category and the APHAB total score (r=0.622). Reliability analysis showed moderate to high internal consistency in the EİKED total score and all subcategory scores (EİKED/200 total Cronbach α=0.941; EİKED/150 total α=0.925; quality of life α=0.783; personal life α=0.815; social life α=0.869; professional life α=0.873). The test-retest reliability of the EIKED/200 total and EIKED/150 total scores was high (ICC = 0.958 and ICC = 0.940). The ICCs of quality of life, personal life, social life and professional life domains were 0.835, 0.821, 0.886 and 0.877, respectively. The results suggest that the Turkish version of the EIKED is valid and reliable for assessing the impact of hearing loss in adults. Keywords: Hearing loss, Questionnaire, Auditory Rehabilitation, Quality of Life, Hearing Aid