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Updated: Oct 10, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Validation of the French version of HHIE-S (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - Screening) questionnaire in
J Duchêne1, L Billiet2, V Franco1
1Service d'Otorhinolaryngologie, de Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale et d'ORL Pédiatrique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pellegrin, Bordeaux - Université de Bordeaux, place Amélie Raba-Léon, 33076 Bordeaux, France.
Introduction:
The HHIE-S (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - Screening) is widely used for hearing-loss disorder in the elderly. The main objective of the present study was to validate a French version. The secondary objective was to determinate a cut-off score as indication for hearing rehabilitation.
Methods:
We translated the HHIE-S into French, respecting the cross-cultural adaptation process for medical questionnaires. An observational study assessed the translation (10 questions, scored from 0 to 40) used for screening purposes in a prospective cohort, aged ≥60 years, with comparison to pure tone, speech-in-silence and speech-in-noise audiometry. Subjects were considered hearing-impaired if the pure-tone average at 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 Hz was >20 dB HL in one or both ears.
Results:
We tested 294 subjects (mean age =67±6 years). Hearing loss prevalence was 34.7 %. Cronbach's alpha (test reliability) was high (0.84). Taking HHIE-S score >8/40 as cut-off defining hearing loss, sensitivity was 80.4%, specificity 85.4 %, positive predictive value 74.5 % and negative predictive value 89.1 %. Seventy-three subjects (24.8 %) had theoretic indications for hearing aids, optimally detected by HHIE-S score >16/40 (88,4 %).
Conclusion:
Our study validated the French version of the HHIE-S. This tool could be useful in screening for age-induced hearing loss in the elderly French population.
