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Abstract
Objective: To identify and quantify sources of variability in scores on the speech, spatial, and qualities of hearing scale (SSQ) and its short forms among normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects using a French-language version of the SSQ. Design: Multi-regression analyses of SSQ scores were performed using age, gender, years of education, hearing loss, and hearing-loss asymmetry as predictors. Similar analyses were performed for each subscale (Speech, Spatial, and Qualities), for several SSQ short forms, and for differences in subscale scores. Study sample: One hundred normal-hearing subjects (NHS) and 230 hearing-impaired subjects (HIS). Results: Hearing loss in the better ear and hearing-loss asymmetry were the two main predictors of scores on the overall SSQ, the three main subscales, and the SSQ short forms. The greatest difference between the NHS and HIS was observed for the Speech subscale, and the NHS showed scores well below the maximum of 10. An age effect was observed mostly on the Speech subscale items, and the number of years of education had a significant influence on several Spatial and Qualities subscale items. Conclusion: Strong similarities between SSQ scores obtained across different populations and languages, and between SSQ and short forms, underline their potential international use.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by the ‘Fondation de l’Avenir’ research program ET2-652 and by the LABEX CELYA (ANR-11-LABX-0060) of Université de Lyon, France within the program ‘Investissements d'Avenir’ (ANR-11-IDEX-0007), operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR). The authors wish to thank both anonymous reviewers for their interesting comments and valuable suggestions.
Declaration of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.