Italian validation of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly – Screening version (HHIE-S-It)

OBJECTIVE: Validate the Italian version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly - Screening version (HHIE-S-It). METHODS: After translation, psychometric properties and attributes were analysed by administering the HHIE-S-It to 167 elderly outpatients together with the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI). RESULTS: The Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.908 for the total score, and 0.832 and 0.816 for its two subscales. Significant test-retest reliability was observed (p < 0.001). Moderate to high correlations were found between HHIE-S-It and pure tone average in the better ear (p < 0.001). The ANOVA test confirmed the significant difference in HHIE-S-It scores across groups according to the degree of hearing loss (p < 0.001). Only very low and low significant correlations were observed between HHIE-S-It and PGWBI. The criterion HHIE-S-It > 11 was observed as the best cut-off with highest sensitivity (86.4%), specificity (72.4%), positive predictive value (52.8%), negative predictive value (93.7%) and likelihood ratios (3.12 and 0.19). CONCLUSIONS: Since the HHIE-S-It presented acceptable psychometric properties, its adoption is justified for both clinical and research purposes. Acceptable diagnostic attributes allow its use as a screening tool for age-related hearing loss.