Beginner's Intelligibility Test (BIT): translation, cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese and validation

Abstract Objective: Translate and validate the Beginner's Intelligibility Test (BIT) speech intelligibility assessment instrument into Brazilian Portuguese. Method: Study developed in two stages: 1st translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Beginner's Intelligibility Test instrument into Brazilian Portuguese; 2nd application of the instrument. The second stage of the study involved 20 children using cochlear implants, aged between 4 and 11 years old, enrolled in the Cochlear Implant Program at Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. All data collection procedures were video, and audio recorded for analysis by judges. After orthographic transcription of each sentence repeated by the child, the judge was asked to score the participant's speech intelligibility and classify it according to criteria established in the literature. Results: The translation stage took place for the four lists and 40 sentences of the Beginner's Intelligibility Test (BIT) instrument into Brazilian Portuguese, the semantic, idiomatic, experimental and conceptual equivalences were considered, and it took place without any difficulties identified by the translators. The terms used in the Portuguese language were similar and those that presented differences among the translators did not bring significant divergences to its understanding. In the inter-evaluator analysis, there was reliability between the classification and the score obtained. Different judges evaluated the same children and a concordance was observed in classification and scoring. Conclusions: Face validity of the BIT was confirmed through the understanding of each sentence of the four lists by the majority of children using cochlear implants participating in the pretest phase. The content validity among experts was unanimous for the four lists of sentences. The Brazilian Portuguese adapted version maintained the semantic, idiomatic, conceptual, and cultural equivalence, according to the evaluation of the expert committee. Evidence level: 02.

Implicações do uso do Aparelho de Amplificação Sonora Individual na qualidade de vida de idosos / Implications of using the Hearing Aids on quality of life of elderly

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar, por meio de questionários padronizados, a qualidade de vida de idosos com deficiência auditiva diagnosticada que utilizam ou não a prótese auditiva (AASI) e de idosos sem queixa auditiva. Método Trata-se de um estudo transversal, com amostra não probabilística, distribuída em três grupos divididos da seguinte forma: 30 idosos com perda auditiva diagnosticada e com indicação para uso do aparelho de amplificação sonora individual (AASI), mas que ainda não faziam uso da prótese; 30 idosos com deficiência auditiva que usavam o AASI; e 30 idosos sem queixa auditiva. Os participantes completaram um questionário que investigava dados sociodemográficos e familiares, o Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version (HHIE-S) e o World Health Organization Quality of Life - versão breve (WHOQOL-Breve). Além das análises descritivas dos dados, foram realizados testes para comparação dos três grupos, aplicando-se a análise de variância (ANOVA) e o teste post hoc de Bonferroni. Resultados Os três grupos se diferenciaram significativamente em todos os domínios de qualidade de vida. O grupo de idosos com perda auditiva diagnosticada e com indicação para uso do AASI apresentou menores escores que o grupo de idosos com deficiência auditiva que usavam o AASI e que o grupo de referência. O grupo com AASI apresentou os melhores resultados de qualidade de vida. Conclusão A perda auditiva afeta a qualidade de vida do idoso. O uso efetivo da prótese auditiva é benéfico a esta população, melhorando suas condições de vida e saúde.

ABSTRACT Purpose To evaluate through standardized questionnaires the quality of life of elderly people with hearing loss diagnosed with and without the use of hearing aids (HA) and elderly without hearing complaints. Methods This is a cross-sectional study with non probabilistic sample, divided into three groups divided as follows: 30 elderly people with diagnosed hearing loss and indication for use of individual sound amplification devices (hearing aids), but have not yet made use of the prosthesis; 30 individuals with hearing impairment who used hearing aids and 30 elderly without hearing complaints. Participants completed a questionnaire investigating sociodemographic and family data, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version (HHIE-S) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life - Short version (WHOQOL-BREF). In addition to the descriptive analysis of the data were performed tests to compare the three groups by applying analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Bonferroni post hoc test. Results The three groups differed significantly in all domains of quality of life. The group of the elderly people with hearing loss diagnosed and with indication for the use of hearing aids presented lower scores and the group of the elderly with hearing disabilities that used the hearing aid and that the reference group. The AASI group presented the best quality of life results. Conclusion The hearing loss affects the quality of life of the elderly. The effective use of hearing aid is beneficial to this population, improving their living and health conditions.

Relationship between Speech Perception and Level of Satisfaction of Hearing Aid Users

Abstract Introduction Hearing difficulties can be minimized by the use of hearing aids. Objective The objective of this study is to assess the speech perception and satisfaction of hearing aids users before and after aid adaptation and to determine whether these measures are correlated. Methods The study was conducted on 65 individuals, 54% females and 46% males aged 63 years on average, after the systematic use of hearing aids for at least three months. We characterized subjectś personal identification data, the degree, and configuration of hearing loss, as well as aspects related to adaptation. We then applied a satisfaction questionnaire and a speech perception test (words and sentences), with and without the use of the hearing aids. Results Mean speech recognition with words and sentences was 69% and 79 %, respectively, with hearing aids use; whereas, without hearing aids use the figures were 43% and 53%. Mean questionnaire score was 30.1 points. Regarding hearing loss characteristics, 78.5% of the subjects had a sensorineural loss, 20% a mixed loss, and 1.5% a conductive loss. Hearing loss of moderate degree was present in 60.5% of cases, loss of descending configuration in 47%, and plain loss in 37.5%. There was no correlation between individual satisfaction and the percentages of the speech perception tests applied. Conclusion Word and sentence recognition was significantly better with the use of the hearing aids. The users showed a high degree of satisfaction. In the present study, there was no correlation observed between the levels of speech perception and levels of user satisfaction measured with the questionnaire.