Abstract:
The study was designed to assess the Hearing aid benefit in Gujarati speaking adults via administration of the APHAB (Gujarati version) Questionnaire. The present study aimed to translate and validate an Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit - Gujarati Version from the original Abbreviated profile of hearing aid benefit (English) to measure hearing aid benefit in Gujarati adult hearing aid users. The study was conducted in 3 different phases: Phase I - Translation of APHAB Questionnaire in the Gujarati language; Phase II – Validation of the translated questionnaire; Phase III - Administration of the validated Questionnaire. The validation of the questionnaire was done using three-point Likert scale (1-inappropriate, 2-somewhat appropriate, 3-more appropriate).
The final translated and validated Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) in Gujarati version was administered utilizing a google form on 30 adult hearing aid users aged 18 to 60 years (10 females & 20 males) from respected hearing aid centers in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, as well as from various other clinics around Gujarat. The current study's findings reveal that the participants' performance is more significant with the hearing aid compared to those without hearing aid condition. The overall results from the current study using the APHAB (Gujarati Version) suggests a significant benefit with the hearing aid condition compared to without hearing aid condition in all the domains (ease of communication, reverberation, background noise & averseness) in Gujarati adults.
