Assessment of the psychometric properties of the AQoL-4D questionnaire in Kannada language for use with adults with hearing loss

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to validate the translated (Kannada language) version of the Assessment of Quality of Life-4 Dimensions (AQoL-4D) questionnaire for use in Kannada speaking adults with hearing loss.

Design: The study involved a cross-sectional survey design. The original (English) and the translated versions of the AQoL-4D questionnaire along with two other questionnaires, that is, the Hearing Handicap Questionnaire and the Participation Scale were self-administered by the study participants. The Kannada AQoL-4D was filled in twice by roughly 50% of the study sample in two sessions that were 15 d apart.

Study sample:

In total, 103 Kannada–English biliterate adults with hearing loss participated in the study.

Results: Overall analysis involved testing the factor structure and various psychometric properties including the internal consistency, discriminant validity, convergent validity and possible floor/ceiling effects. The factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure, and the overall results showed acceptable psychometric properties of the scores of the full scale. However, poor internal consistency was obtained for three out of the four subscales extracted from the questionnaire.

Conclusion: Based on the internal consistency of the subscales, we recommend using either the full scale or only the first subscale in Kannada speaking adults with hearing loss.

Keywords:

• Quality of life
• validation
• AQoL-4D
• hearing loss
• psychometric properties

Compliance with ethical standards

Declaration of interest

All the authors declare no conflict of interest and the authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The ethical clearance was obtained from national ethical committee at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing based in Mysore city.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all the study participants before their involvement in the study.

Acknowledgment

Sincere thanks to all the study participants and we extend our gratitude to the audiology clinics that supported us for the data collection.