Validation of the Swedish version of the LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire in children with normal hearing – a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective: To externally validate the Swedish version of the LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ) in children with normal hearing followed longitudinally, and to examine to what extent the LEAQ correlates to other measures of auditory and language development.Design: The Swedish version of the LEAQ was completed every other month over a 2-year period and correlated with the Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) and McArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) to examine overlapping areas of development. Normative curve was derived through linear mixed models and the effect of time investigated with repeated measures ANOVA.Study sample: Parents of 25 typically developing children with normal hearing (13 girls, 12 boys).Results: The norm curve of the Swedish LEAQ showed a similar equation as the original German version and the effect of time was significant. Correlations between LEAQ and CDI were moderate to high, and between LEAQ and PEACH weak or non-existing.Conclusion: The Swedish version of the LEAQ is a reliable tool in accordance with the original version. However, results indicate that this questionnaire to a large extent measures language skill rather than audition specifically.