Investigation of the validity of satisfaction with amplification in daily life (SADL) questionnaire

by Kan, Shuk-yee

(Uncorrected OCR) Abstract of dissertation entitled

Investigation of the validity of Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life (SADL) questionnaire

submitted by

Margaret Kan Shuk Yee

for the Degree of Master of Science in Audiology at the University of Hong Kong.

in May 2002

The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the IS-items in the four

subscales of the SADL questionnaire are components of satisfaction and to develop a

translated version of SADL self-report inventory. The main scale of the Chinese

version SADL questionnaire consisted of three parts: In Part lA, Subjects were asked

to fill out a translated version of SADL scale. In Part IB, subjects were instructed to

respond to the same 15 items according to their satisfaction level. In Part 1 C, subjects

were asked to rank order on the importance of each item in determining satisfaction

with amplification.

All subjects have worn hearing aides) for at least 3 months, and aged over 18.

They were either selected from the Hong Kong University Hearing Centre or Public

Hospital in Hong Kong. For subjects selected from the Hong Kong University

Hearing Centre, they received the questionnaire by mail. For subjects who were

randomly selected from Yan Chai Hospital, Yau Ma Tei Specialist Clinic, Tung Yah

Hospital, and Queen Mary Hospital, they were invited to take part in a face-to-face

interview when they visited the audiologcial centres of those hospitals for ENT

regular check up or hearing aid re-evaluation.

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When questionnaire is selected as a tool for assessment, audiologists should carefully consider the literal level of their patients, appropriate modification of the questionnaire might be necessary for them to collect the information they needed. The Pearson correlation between Part lA & IB revealed that many of the items in the SADL scale was significantly related to satisfaction. Moreover, significant correlation of four subscales & global scores between Part lA and Part IB in present study also verifY that the SADL scale is related to satisfaction. 20 out of 42 subjects rank item 1 (Help you understand people) as the most essential factor, followed by item 12 (Competent hearing aid provider), and item 5 (Reduce asking for repetition) in enhancing their satisfaction with amplification. The small heterogeneous sample and the used of a translated version SADL scale in present study might made it difficult to generalize present findings, so future studies is needed to verifY that the SADL scale is really a measurement of satisfaction with amplification and to further validate the SADL scale.

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