Transcultural adaptation of an instrument to evaluate hearing handicap in workers with noise-induced hearing loss

The noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a chronical and irreversible disease resulting of the exposure to noise in high levels at work. Even in the beginning, this hearing loss can damage in many degrees the worker's quality of life. Before this study, there wasn't an instrument, in Portuguese, to evaluate the psychosocial disadvantages of workers with NIHL. The aim of this research was to make a transcultural adaptation of an especific instrument to evaluate the hearing handicap from the original language to Portuguese, and check the reliability and legitimacy. The selected instrument passed by a process of semantic equivalence that was conducted in five stages: translation, back translation, critical appraisal of the versions, pre-test and a final review by a multiprofessional group to develop a consensual version of the instrument for current use in Brazil. The instrument called "Inabilities Scale and Hearing Handicap" had, in general, acceptable psychometrical measures, considering the little size of the sample and the fact that workers' hearing loss weren't too significant. Therefore, the Portuguese version of this instrument needs to be further tested in a representative sample of Brazilian workers with NIHL to ratify its utility in order to evaluate hearing handicap in this population.

Translation; Noise-induced hearing loss; Questionnaires