Can we establish internationally equivalent outcome measures in audiological rehabilitation?

This paper intends to discuss issues related to cultural, ethnic, and other nonaudiological variables that may affect the response when trying to determine outcome of audiological rehabilitation in different countries.

The ideal measure for the determination of outcome of audiological rehabilitation would be sensitive to changes in disability as well as handicap. Further, it would allow unforeseen effects to be identified and not be limited by language borders or cultural and ethnic differences. A variety of critical factors are discussed that are related to culture, social traditions, ethnic factors, etc. that may affect outcome measures and thus make international equivalence difficult.

With careful consideration of the factors discussed, a basic set of questions could be formulated and agreed on, calibrated on suitable populations in different countries, and thereafter used as a bridge across borders to allow comparison of different procedures or meta-analyses of studies performed by different laboratories.