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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the validity of the National Acoustic Laboratories procedure for determining percentage loss of hearing as a measure of hearing disability. Design: The percentage hearing losses of war veterans who had hearing ranging from normal to profound deafness were determined and compared with their scores on two hearing questionnaires. Study sample: A self-report hearing questionnaire was completed by 282 war veterans and 154 of those veterans were given the hearing measurement scale in the form of a structured interview. Results: A percentage loss of hearing of 0 agreed well with the questionnaire scores representing the limit of normal hearing, and a percentage loss of hearing of 100 agreed well with the questionnaire scores representing total loss of hearing. Percentage loss of hearing accounted for 83% of the variance in scores on the hearing questionnaire and 81% of the variance in scores on the hearing measurement scale. Conclusion: The National Acoustic Laboratories procedure for determining percentage loss of hearing provides a valid measure of hearing disability.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Professor Harvey Dillon, Research Director, National Acoustic Laboratories, for permission to reproduce from National Acoustic Laboratories Report No. 118, 1988, the information provided in the Supplementary Appendix.
Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the article.