Hearing disability measured by the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ): pilot study of a short version in Brazilian Portuguese

Miranda-Gonsalez, Elisiane Crestani de; Almeida, Kátia de

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Brasil

Audiology - Communication Research

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Sumário

Original Article • Audiol., Commun. Res. 22 • 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-6431-2016-1709 copy

Hearing disability measured by the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ): pilot study of a short version in Brazilian Portuguese

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) is a questionnaire that assesses subjective experience and quantifies hearing disabilities in communication situations.

Purpose

To carry out a pilot study of a short version of the SSQ questionnaire in Brazilian Portuguese to measure hearing disability resulting from hearing loss.

Methods

We selected 30 individuals, 12 males and 18 females, aged 18 to 89 years, with average education of nine years. The subjects underwent pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry tests and immittance measurements. Participants were divided into two groups according to hearing threshold, comprising 15 with normal hearing (NL) and 15 with hearing loss (HL). All participants answered the SSQ questionnaire - short version (12 items) - in the form of an interview, rating their communication performance in all situations assessed with a score of 0 to 10.

Results

The mean scores obtained were 6.68 and 4.13 for the NL and HL groups, respectively. Individuals with hearing loss had lower scores than subjects with normal hearing. A high Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found in both groups, demonstrating good internal consistency between the different items of the questionnaire.

Conclusion

The short version of the SSQ in Brazilian Portuguese was sensitive in differentiating the performance of individuals with and without hearing loss, confirming its potential for assessing limitations in hearing and communication activities experienced by hearing-impaired individuals in their everyday lives.

Surveys and questionnaires; Hearing loss; Auditory perception; Hearing; Hearing aids

Domains	SSQ 49	SSQ 12	Item	Pragmatic subscale
Part 1 Speech hearing	1.1	1	You are talking with one other person and there is a TV on in the same room. Without turning the TV down, can you follow what the person you’re talking to says?	Speech in noise
	1.10	2	You are listening to someone talking to you, while at the same time trying to follow the news on TV. Can you follow what both people are saying?	Multiple speech streams
	1.11	3	You are in conversation with one person in a room where there are many other people talking. Can you follow what the person you are talking to is saying?	Speech in speech
	1.4	4	You are in a group of about five people in a busy restaurant. You can see everyone else in the group. Can you follow the conversation?	Speech in noise
	1.12	5	You are with a group and the conversation switches from one person to another. Can you follow what the person you are talking to is saying?	Multiple speech streams
Part 2 Spatial hearing	2.6	6	You are outside. A dog barks loudly. Can you tell immediately where it is, without having to look?	Localization
	2.9	7	Can you tell how far away a bus or a truck is, from the sound?	Distance and movement
	2.13	8	Can you tell from the sound whether a bus or truck is coming towards you or going away?	Distance and movement
Part 3 Qualities of hearing	3.2	9	When you hear more than one sound at a time, do you have the impression that it seems like a single jumbled sound?	Segregation
	3.7	10	When you listen to music, can you make out which instruments are playing?	Identification of sound
	3.9	11	Do everyday sounds that you can hear easily seem clear to you (not blurred) ?	Quality and naturalness
	3.14	12	Do you have to concentrate very much when listening to someone or something?	Listening effort

	Group	n	Mean	SD	CI		Minimum	Maximum

					- 95%	+95%
Age	NL	15	36.73	15.18	28.33	45.14	18	58
	HL	15	61.80	18.88	51.34	72.26	20	89
	Total	30	49.27	21.11	41.38	57.15	18	89
Education (years)	NL	15	10.47	2.16	9.27	11.67	7	16
	HL	15	7.60	4.45	5.13	10.07	0	16
	Total	30	9.03	3.73	7.64	10.43	0	16

Groups	n	Mean	SD	CI		Minimum	Maximum	p value	F value

				Conf. - 95%	Conf. - 95%
NL	15	6.68	1.98	0.51	5.58	2.17	7.78	0.002	11.09
HL	15	4.13	2.20	0.57	2.91	1.00	5.35	0.002	11.09

Group		n	Mean	SD	CI		Minimum	Maximum	p value	U value

					Conf. - 95%	Conf. +95%
Q1	NL	15	7.07	1.98	0.51	-5.97	3	8.16	0.006	48
Q1	HL	15	4.80	2.11	0.54	3.63	0	5.97	0.006	48
Q2	NL	15	5.53	2.74	0.71	4.01	0	7.06	0.031	61
Q2	HL	15	3.53	1.95	0.50	2.45	0	4.62	0.031	61
Q3	NL	15	6.47	2.16	0.55	5.27	3	7.67	0.002	36.5
Q3	HL	15	3.20	2.42	0.62	1.86	0	4.54	0.002	36.5
Q4	NL	15	6.67	2.55	0.65	5.25	3	8.08	0.003	42
Q4	HL	15	3.33	2.49	0.64	1.95	0	4.72	0.003	42
Q5	NL	15	6.60	2.66	0.68	5.12	2	8.08	0.002	32
Q5	HL	15	3.20	2.04	0.52	2.07	0	4.33	0.002	32
Q6	NL	15	6.47	2.92	0.75	4.85	1	8.09	0.049	71.5
Q6	HL	15	4.27	3.20	0.82	2.89	0	6.44	0.049	71.5
Q7	NL	15	6.20	2.75	0.71	4.67	1	7.73	0.045	67.5
Q7	HL	15	3.93	3.26	0.84	2.13	0	5.74	0.045	67.5
Q8	NL	15	6.87	2.90	0.74	5.26	2	8.47	0.020	57
Q8	HL	15	4.27	3.03	0.78	2.59	0	5.95	0.020	57
Q9	NL	15	6.73	3.12	0.80	5.00	0	8.47	0.178	80.5
Q9	HL	15	5.27	3.41	0.88	3.38	0	7.16	0.178	80.5
Q10	NL	15	7.40	2.84	0.73	5.82	1	8.98	0.040	65.5
Q10	HL	15	4.80	3.61	0.93	2.80	0	6.80	0.040	65.5
Q11	NL	15	8.33	2.02	0.52	7.21	2	9.45	0.001	31
Q11	HL	15	5.40	2.50	0.64	4.01	1	6.79	0.001	31
Q12	NL	15	5.93	3.30	0.85	4.10	0	7.76	0.028	60
Q12	HL	15	3.20	3.02	0.78	1.52	0	4.88	0.028	60

Group	Subjects	No. of Items	Correlation	p value
NL	15	12	0.924	<0.001
HL	15	12	0.944	<0.001

Total	30	12	0.952	<0.001

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E-mail: revista@audiologiabrasil.org.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Elisiane Crestani de Miranda Gonsalez. E-mail: elisiane.miranda@fcmsantacasasp.edu.br