Translation, validation and adaptation of the revised hearing handicap inventory in Assamese language

Background: The revised hearing handicap inventory (RHHI), a short questionnaire, effectively evaluates the psychosocial effects of hearing loss in adults, regardless of age. As RHHI is available only in English, its use is limited at the regional level for people who don't understand and can't read English. The aim of the study was to translate, validate, and adapt the RHHI in Assamese language as this is not available in local language. Methods: The translation procedure followed a traditional translation, back translation, and content validity as per Beatons’s recommendation. The pre-finalized version was administered on sixty-three (63) adults with hearing loss at an interval of one month. Internal consistency of the translated tool was done by Cronbach’s Alpha, reliability testing was done by percentage of agreement by kappa statistics and intraclass coefficient (ICC). Validity testing of the tool was done by Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Assamese version of RHHI had good internal consistency, good reliability. The overall Cronbach alpha was 0.944; value of corrected item-total correlations ranged from 0.494 to 0.772, indicating the strength of the relationship between each item and the total scale score. Test-retest reliability by kappa statistics revealed significant agreement among the measurements, with p values <0.001. Pearson correlation coefficients test values suggest validity of Assamese version of RHHI. Conclusions: The Assamese version of the RHHI is a reliable screening tool for hearing impairment in Assamese-speaking adults. Despite limitations of study, findings suggest its potential to understand the handicap and difficulties due to hearing impaired population and for improving healthcare access and outcomes in northeastern India.