Adapting the speech, spatial and qualities of hearing scale into Malay – a preliminary study

Abstract

ABSTRACTSelf-report inventories are important measures for assessing hearing abilities of individuals with hearing impairment. Thus the current study aimed to adapt the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of hearing scale (SSQ) into Malay. The SSQ scale in English was translated to Malay language, using the forward and backward approach. The Malay SSQ was administered on 50 adult hearing aid users. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability of the SSQ adapted into Malay language. One-way ANOVA was carried out to compare the scores between the domains measured in the Malay SSQ. The results showed the Malay SSQ has high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.97) and acceptable corrected item – correlations (0.86–0.35). The mean scores for the speech and spatial domain were significantly lower than the quality domain, suggesting lower satisfaction reported for the two domains. Telephone conversation and understanding speech in noisy situations were among items reported as most difficult listening task by the subjects. Understanding speech in a quiet room is rated as the easiest listening task. Age, degree of hearing loss and hearing aid experience did not correlate with the hearing disabilities. The internal consistency reliability of the adapted SSQ showed some degree of support to the appropriateness of the scale as an outcome measure. Further research is required to assess the validity and also the test-retest reliability of the Malay SSQ.