PURPOSE
This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and preliminarily evaluate the Mandarin version of the Hearing and Functioning in Everyday Life Questionnaire (HFEQ-Mandarin) for older adults with hearing loss.
METHOD
The study involved a systematic translation and cultural adaptation process following international guidelines, including forward and back translation, expert committee review, and field testing with 15 participants. A total of 227 older adults completed the HFEQ-Mandarin. In the non-hearing aid subgroup (n = 109), participants additionally completed the Chinese Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly-Screening and Mini Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Psychometric analyses included exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency reliability, and correlation assessments.
RESULTS
The HFEQ-Mandarin demonstrated good cultural relevance after expert review and participant feedback. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a five-factor structure explaining 74.14% of variance. Internal consistency was excellent for the total scale (α = .905), though some subscales showed lower reliability. Correlation analyses indicated significant relationships between HFEQ scores, hearing thresholds, and self-reported hearing difficulties. Participants generally found the questionnaire understandable, though some items, particularly those related to societal support and individual resources, required refinement. The length of the questionnaire posed challenges for older adults, highlighting the need for a shorter version.
CONCLUSIONS
The HFEQ-Mandarin is a promising tool for assessing daily hearing-related functioning in Mandarin-speaking adults. Further validation with diverse samples is needed.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33307746.
Shangqiguo Wang, Zhi-Hong Zheng, Li-Ping Zhang et al.· Journal of Speech, Language...· 0 citations
OBJECTIVES
Aging and hearing loss may affect the mechanisms underlying binaural speech perception, but whether spectro-temporal integration and interaural cue-based unmasking exhibit shared or dissociable vulnerabilities remains unclear. To isolate these processes, the authors combined two novel, complementary behavioral paradigms: (1) a sparsely coded atomic speech dichotic task designed to minimize spectro-temporal redundancy and probe cross-ear integration of sparse spectro-temporal information, and (2) an antiphasic Chinese Zodiac-in-Noise test that probes binaural unmasking through interaural phase/time cues.
DESIGN
Eighty-six Mandarin-speaking adults were assigned to younger normal hearing, older normal hearing, and older hearing loss (OHL) groups. Experiment 1 used atomic speech stimuli, in which discrete "Gabor atoms" were presented either monaurally or dichotically, and the atom rate reception threshold was defined as the minimum atom rate required for 50% intelligibility. Experiment 2 assessed listeners' ability to exploit interaural timing cues for speech unmasking via the Zodiac-in-Noise test by comparing diotic and antiphasic speech reception thresholds and deriving the binaural intelligibility level difference. Both tasks were repeated across three sessions to evaluate exposure-related changes.
RESULTS
In experiment 1, older adults (older normal hearing and OHL) showed elevated atom rate reception thresholds in both monaural and dichotic conditions relative to younger listeners. Aging, rather than hearing loss, emerged as the primary predictor of reduced binaural spectro-temporal integration after accounting for monaural performance. In experiment 2, absolute speech reception thresholds showed graded effects of both aging and hearing loss, whereas the derived binaural benefit (binaural intelligibility level difference) was reduced primarily in the OHL group. Performance in the two paradigms was uncorrelated. Repeat exposure selectively enhanced binaural spectro-temporal integration in older adults but produced no measurable effect on interaural phase difference (IPD)-based binaural unmasking.
CONCLUSIONS
The atomic speech paradigm revealed an age-specific decline in central spectro-temporal integration, whereas IPD-based binaural unmasking was most clearly reduced in older listeners with hearing loss. These findings support a functional dissociation between binaural spectro-temporal and IPD-based processes and highlight the value of sparse atomic speech stimuli for probing central auditory aging and informing age-adaptive rehabilitation strategies.
Yefei Mo, Fanhui Kong, Rong Han et al.· Ear and Hearing· 0 citations