Applicability of a short form of the Speech, Spatial und Qualities of Hearing Scale in 97 individuals with Meniere's disease in a multicentric registry

BACKGROUNDMenieres Disease (MD) is a debilitating disorder with episodic and variable ear symptoms. Diagnosis can be challenging and there is no current consensus regarding monitoring of disease progression. A psychometric instrument may aid the assessment of subjective hearing impairment and the associated burden in daily life over the course of the disease. However, evidence in this regard is lacking. OBJECTIVETo evaluate a German-language short form of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) for hearing-related disability in MD. METHODSData was collected from a multicenter prospective patient registry for long-term follow up of MD patients. Hearing was assessed by pure tone and speech audiometry. The applied version of the SSQ contained 17 items. RESULTS97 consecutive patients with unilateral MD had a mean age of 56.2 {+/-} 5.0 years. 55 individuals (57.3%) were female, 72 (75.0%) were categorized as definite MD. Average total score of the SSQ was 6.0 {+/-} 2.1. Cronbachs alpha for internal consistency was 0.960 for the total score. We did not observe undue floor or ceiling effects. SSQ values showed a negative correlation with hearing thresholds and a positive correlation with speech recognition scores. CONCLUSIONSThe short form of the SSQ provides insight into hearing-specific disability in patients with MD. Thereby, it may be informative regarding disease stage and rehabilitation needs.