Translation and validation of the speech, spatial, and qualities of hearing scale (SSQ) and the hearing environments and reflection on quality of life (HEAR-QL) questionnaire for children and adolescents in Dutch

Figures & data

Figure 1.   Boxplot of SSQ Children and Adolescents total scores and subscale scores for the NH group and the HL group.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics (n, mean, SD and range) of the SSQ, the HEAR-QL Children and the HEAR-QL Adolescents with corresponding subscales: comparison between the normal hearing group and the hearing-impaired group.

	NH			HL
	n	Mean (SD)	Range	n	Mean (SD)	Range	U*	*p Value
SSQ	23	9.0 (0.8)	7.2–10.0	38	6.3 (1.9)	1.9–9.5	79.0	<.001
Speech Comprehension	23	9.1 (0.7)	7.8–10.0	38	6.7 (1.9)	1.7–9.5	81.5	<.001
Spatial Hearing	23	8.8 (1.1)	6.4–10.0	38	5.4 (2.5)	0.3–9.5	95.0	<.001
Other Qualities	23	9.2 (0.7)	7.6–10.0	38	6.7 (1.9)	1.8–9.8	76.5	<.001
HEAR-QL Children	37	96 (3)	88–100	38	73 (13)	45–100	64.5	<.001
Environments	37	89 (8)	77–100	38	56 (19)	15–100	83.5	<.001
Activities	37	100 (0)	100–100	38	91 (14)	54–100	444.0	<.001
Feelings	37	98 (4)	88–100	38	72 (18)	29–100	90.0	<.001
HEAR-QL Adolescents	17	95 (4)	87–100	29	67 (20)	23–97	26.0	<.001
Hearing Situations	17	88 (8)	75–100	29	56 (20)	21–92	39.5	<.001
Social Interactions	17	100 (2)	93–100	29	76 (26)	14–100	75.5	<.001
School Difficulties	17	97 (4)	89–100	29	65 (25)	18–100	33.5	<.001
Feelings	17	96 (5)	81–100	29	70 (21)	19–100	56.0	<.001

n: number of subjects; SD: standard deviation; NH: normal hearing group; HL: hearing loss group.

SSQ: Speech, Spatial and Other Qualities of Hearing; HEAR-QL: Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life.

*Mann-Whitney U-test statistic with p-value for comparison of the means between normal hearing group and hearing-impaired group.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics (n, mean, SD and range) of the SSQ, the HEAR-QL Children and the HEAR-QL Adolescents with corresponding subscales: comparison between hearing aid group and CI group.

	Hearing aid group			CI group
	n	Mean (SD)	Range	n	Mean (SD)	Range	U*	*p Value
SSQ	23	6.6 (2.1)	2.3–9.5	15	5.7 (1.4)	1.9–8.4	128.0	.191
Speech Comprehension	23	6.8 (2.2)	1.7–9.5	15	6.5 (1.4)	3.8–8.7	139.0	.329
Spatial Hearing	23	6.1 (2.5)	1.4–9.5	15	4.4 (2.1)	0.3–8.8	102.0	.035
Other Qualities	23	7.0 (1.8)	3.4–9.8	15	6.3 (1.9)	1.8–8.8	142.5	.379
HEAR-QL Children	24	77 (13)	48–100	14	67 (12)	45–86	87.0	.013
Environments	24	59 (20)	15–100	14	52 (15)	25–75	126.5	.214
Activities	24	96 (11)	58–100	14	82 (15)	54–100	73.5	.001
Feelings	24	76 (19)	29–100	14	66 (15)	46–92	110.0	.079
HEAR-QL Adolescents	16	71 (22)	27–97	13	61 (16)	23–85	69.5	.135
Hearing Situations	16	62 (23)	25–92	13	47 (14)	21–71	64.0	.081
Social Interactions	16	84 (24)	29–100	13	67 (27)	14–100	57.0	.037
School Difficulties	16	69 (27)	18–100	13	60 (21)	21–89	78.5	.271
Feelings	16	71 (23)	19–100	13	69 (18)	34–100	100.0	.871

n: number of subjects; SD: standard deviation; CI: cochlear implant group; SSQ: Speech, Spatial and Other Qualities of Hearing; HEAR-QL: Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life.

*Mann-Whitney U test statistic with p-value for comparison of the means between hearing aid and CI group.

Table 3. Internal consistency for all subscales of the SSQ, the HEAR-QL Children and the HEAR-QL Adolescents.

	Item-subscale correlations, Range (Mean)		Cronbach’s Alpha if item deleted, Range		Cronbach’s Alpha
	T	HL	T	HL	T	HL
SSQ
Speech Comprehension	0.472–0.933 (0.796)	0.312–0.897 (0.707)	0.937–0.955	0.898–0.936	0.949	0.919
Spatial Hearing	0.589–0.959 (0.858)	0.327–0.930 (0.763)	0.972–0.979	0.946–0.962	0.976	0.954
Other Qualities	0.536–0.850 (0.726)	0.354–0.829 (0.656)	0.913–0.929	0.878–0.907	0.928	0.900
HEAR-QL Children
Environments	0.587–0.857 (0.707)	0.367–0.733 (0.579)	0.925–0.935	0.870–0.889	0.936	0.887
Activities	0.337–0.880 (0.677)	0.265–0.865 (0.637)	0.793–0.900	0.754–0.886	0.857	0.832
Feelings	0.294–0.747 (0.592)	0.054–0.640 (0.410)	0.757–0.841	0.554–0.727	0.819	0.672
HEAR-QL Adolescents
Hearing Situations	0.693–0.805 (0.744)	0.493–0.709 (0.634)	0.879–0.896	0.809–0.848	0.906	0.849
Social Interactions	0.731–0.842 (0.798)	0.711–0.800 (0.763)	0.922–0.932	0.906–0.915	0.936	0.922
School Difficulties	0.711–0.865 (0.821)	0.635–0.830 (0.760)	0.933–0.946	0.902–0.922	0.946	0.922
Feelings	0.456–0.853 (0.713)	0.337–0.790 (0.633)	0.887–0.918	0.842–0.885	0.911	0.874

T: total subject group; HL: hearing loss group; SSQ: Speech, Spatial and Other Qualities of Hearing; HEAR-QL: Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life.

Figure 2. Boxplot of HEAR-QL Children total scores and subscale scores for the NH group and the HL group. 

Figure 3. Boxplot of HEAR-QL Adolescents total scores and subscale scores for the NH group and the HL group.