Development of Age-Related Hearing Loss Questionnaire in Korean Elderly

Purpose: The purpose of this study was primarily to develop a self-reported questionnaire and a screening tool of the age-related hearing loss. The current study strived to develop its content and construct validity and test-retest reliability of the Age-Related Hearing Loss Questionnaire (ARHLQ).Methods: After considering a lot of factors of age-related hearing loss, 21 audiologists (age, 45 ± 11.13 to 46.7 ± 10.70 years, clinical experience period, 10 ± 7.7 to 13.4 ± 9.96 years) working at hearing aid centers or universities responded to a 5-point Likert questionnaire to evaluate the content validity. Content Validity Index (CVI) of each item was obtained and evaluated by the cut-off point of 0.75 indicating good content validity. Furthermore, the construct validity with factor analysis and the test-retest reliability with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were evaluated.Results: Used by the cut-off point of 0.75 of CVI, the six items of the first ARHLQ and one item of the second ARHLQ were eliminated. The ARHLQ was twice revised based on the content validity and the elaboration of expression of each item. Finally, the 24 items were made and selected in the ARHLQ. The factor analysis confirmed the four factors such as communication difficulty (9 items), communication environment (5 items), emotion and others' reaction (6 items), and communication strategy (3 items). The factor analysis showed good construct validity and the test-retest reliability was at a high level.Conclusion: These results indicate that the ARHLQ is a useful screening tool to evaluate people with suspecting age-related hearing loss and for early identification for age-related hearing loss.