Development and Validation of a Questionnaire for Hearing Device Use Impact on Cognitive, Behavioral, and Psychological Buildup in Children

Background: Hearing impaired children face many challenges and obstacles in the journey of their academic and social life obligate them to cut off use their hearing device. Since there is no Arabic questionnaire estimates impact of hearing device use on cognitive, behavioral and emotional aspects of children, we aimed to develop a new Arabic questionnaire suits the Arabic culture and facilitates expression of troubles parents and caregivers had because of the impact of hearing device use on children. Methods: A new questionnaire was created for this cross-sectional study based on the grievances of youngsters who use Arabic hearing device. History taking, a basic audiological evaluation, a socioeconomic status assessment, and a history of using hearing device were performed on a representative sample of 20 children. Two weeks separated the two administrations of the Arabic questionnaire. Construct validity and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to assess the scale's results for validity. Cronbach's alpha and split-half reliability coefficients were used to assess internal consistent reliability. Results: Factor analysis validated 18 items and categorized them into 3 dimensions (with eigenvalues >1); cognitive, behavioral and emotional. Adequate construct validity was indicated by the moderate to strong correlations between the total and subscale scores and the validation scale scores. Measures of reliability revealed high internal and external scale and subscales reliability. Conclusion: The developed Arabic questionnaire for hearing device use impact on children is valid and reliable in assessment of cognitive, behavioral and emotional performance of Arabic-speaking children using hearing devices.