Psychometric Properties of a 17-Item German Language Short Form of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale and Their Correlation to Audiometry in 97 Individuals with Unilateral Menière's Disease from a Prospective Multicenter Registry.

Background/

Objectives

Menière's disease (MD) is a debilitating disorder with episodic and variable ear symptoms. Diagnosis can be challenging, and evidence for therapeutic approaches is low. Furthermore, patients show a unique and fluctuating configuration of audiovestibular impairment. As a psychometric instrument to assess hearing-specific disability is currently lacking, we evaluated a short form of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) in a cohort of patients with MD.

Methods

Data was collected in the context of a multicenter prospective patient registry intended for the long-term follow up of MD patients. Hearing was assessed by pure tone and speech audiometry. The SSQ was applied in the German language version with 17 items.

Results

In total, 97 consecutive patients with unilateral MD with a mean age of 56.2 ± 5.0 years were included. A total of 55 individuals (57.3%) were female, and 72 (75.0%) were categorized as having definite MD. The average total score of the SSQ was 6.0 ± 2.1. Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was 0.960 for the total score. We did not observe undue floor or ceiling effects. SSQ values showed a statistically negative correlation with hearing thresholds and a statistically positive correlation with speech recognition scores of affected ears.

Conclusions

The short form of the SSQ provides insight into hearing-specific disability in patients with MD. Therefore, it may be informative regarding disease stage and rehabilitation needs.