Development and Validation of a Psychometric Tool for Disability Assessment in Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Psychometrics
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) causes significant speech understanding difficulties, especially in noisy environments.
• Standard hearing assessments often underestimate the functional limitations experienced by individuals with ANSD.
• There is a need for a condition-specific tool to accurately capture the disability associated with ANSD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Auditory Neuropathy Perceived Disability Questionnaire (ANPDQ).
• To create a psychometric tool that assesses functional disability in individuals with ANSD.
• To improve the accuracy of disability assessments for ANSD.

Main Methods:

• The ANPDQ was developed using literature reviews, patient interviews, and expert input.
• A 59-item questionnaire was created, covering functional, psychosocial, and audiological aspects.
• The questionnaire was validated on 116 individuals aged 15 years and older with confirmed ANSD.

Main Results:

• The ANPDQ demonstrated strong psychometric properties, with eight components explaining 74.1% of the variance.
• High internal consistency was found for domains including speech-in-noise, listening effort, and psychological impact.
• ANPDQ scores showed limited correlation with traditional audiometric measures, indicating unique insights into perceived disability.

Conclusions:

• The ANPDQ is a valid and reliable measure for assessing functional disability in ANSD.
• A composite formula combining pure-tone averages and ANPDQ scores is proposed for more accurate hearing disability estimation.
• The ANPDQ can guide individualized rehabilitation and has potential for global application.