Hearing-aid outcomes in Chinese adults: clinical application and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE

To adapt the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life questionnaire into Chinese (the SADL-CH questionnaire) and investigate hearing-aid satisfaction in a group of adult Hong Kong Chinese fitted with free hearing aids.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

STUDY SAMPLE: One hundred and twenty-five experienced hearing-aid users.

METHODS

The subjects completed a history form seeking demographic data and a questionnaire combining the SADL-CH instrument with questions seeking subjects' subjective ratings of satisfaction with some hearing-aid features and overall satisfaction with their hearing aid.

RESULTS

The SADL-CH questionnaire had a good internal consistency reliability estimate (α = 0.79) comparable to that of the original version. SADL-CH scores were observed to have significant correlations with other satisfaction ratings on some hearing-aid features and the overall satisfaction measure. A high degree of test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.79) was observed. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the SADL-CH questionnaire had a four-factor structure. Interim norms were derived for the SADL-CH questionnaire. The level of hearing-aid satisfaction in Chinese adults was generally lower than that reported in studies conducted among Western populations.

CONCLUSION

The SADL-CH questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring hearing-aid satisfaction.