Adaptation and validation of the Spanish version of the Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) rating scale

A validation and normative study of the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children plus (PEACH+) rating scale in Malaysia

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the present study was to (1) translate and validate the PEACH + Rating Scale in Malay and (2) establish normative curves as a function of age and examine test-retest reliability for the Malay and English versions of PEACH+.

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study that used a convenient sampling technique.

STUDY SAMPLE

One hundred and fifty-seven parents of typically developing children aged between 4 months and 7 years participated in the study. Forty-nine completed the Malay PEACH + in a pen-to-paper format (Aim 1). One hundred and eight parents completed PEACH + online (69 completed the Malay version and 39 the English version), and 20 of them completed the questionnaire twice (Aim 2).

RESULTS

The PEACH + in Malay showed high internal consistency and item-total correlation. The normative data revealed that scores for frequency of auditory behaviour increased rapidly with age until about 20 months and reached an asymptote of around 90% by about 40 months of age. A similar trend was observed for ease of listening scores, which asymptoted around 85%.

CONCLUSIONS

The validated Malay PEACH + Rating Scale can be used as a guide to monitor auditory functional performance and listening efforts of Malaysian children in real-world environments.

Active Bone Conduction Implant and Adhesive Bone Conduction Device: A Comparison of Audiological Performance and Subjective Satisfaction

Introduction  Atresia of the external auditory canal affects 1 in every 10 thousand to 20 thousand live births, with a much higher prevalence in Latin America, at 5 to 21 out of every 10 thousand newborns. The treatment involves esthetic and functional aspects. Regarding the functional treatment, there are surgical and nonsurgical alternatives like spectacle frames and rigid and softband systems. Active transcutaneous bone conduction implants (BCIs) achieve good sound transmission and directly stimulate the bone. Objective  To assess the audiological performance and subjective satisfaction of children implanted with an active transcutaneous BCI for more than one year and to compare the outcomes with a nonsurgical adhesive bone conduction device (aBCD) in the same users. Methods  The present is a prospective, multicentric study. The audiological performance was evaluated at 1, 6, and 12 months postactivation, and after a 1-month trial with the nonsurgical device. Results  Ten patients completed all tests. The 4-frequency pure-tone average (4PTA) in the unaided condition was of 65 dB HL, which improved significantly to 20 dB HL after using the BCI for 12 months. The speech recognition in quiet in the unaided condition was of 33% on average, which improved significantly, to 99% with the BCI, and to 91% with the aBCD. Conclusion  The aBCD demonstrated sufficient hearing improvement and subjective satisfaction; thus, it is a good solution for hearing rehabilitation if surgery is not desired or not possible. If surgery is an option, the BCI is the superior device in terms of hearing outcomes, particularly background noise and subjective satisfaction.

Validation of the Norwegian version of the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/ Oral Performance of Children (PEACH+) for children with typical hearing aged 12-72 months

BACKGROUND

The Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH+) is a parent reported questionnaire. It was first developed in Australia (2007) to assess the effectiveness of hearing devices in young children, and to register how oral children under the age of five hear and communicate with others.

OBJECTIVE

No validated version of the Norwegian translation of PEACH+ exists. This study therefore aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of a back-translated Norwegian version of the PEACH+, from a sample of Norwegian children with typical hearing.

METHODS

Parents of 255 children with typical hearing between 12 and 72 months were recruited through kindergartens and social media platforms. Participants were asked to fill in the PEACH+ questionnaire on behalf of their child, in a digital format.

RESULTS

High internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha = .917) and satisfactory item-total correlation were found (.342-.678).

CONCLUSION

The Norwegian translation of PEACH+ shows good psychometric properties that are similar to the original version (Ching and Hill, 2007) and that of other translations. The PEACH+ questionnaire is therefore valid to use in a Norwegian context.

Parental Reports on the Auditory Performance of Children With Normal Hearing and Children With Hearing Loss via the Hebrew Adaptation of the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children Scale

PURPOSE

The aims of this study were to adapt the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) scale into Hebrew, to explore the auditory performance of children with normal hearing (NH) or hearing loss (HL), to examine changes with age, and to investigate the effect of descriptive variables on the performance of children with HL.

METHOD

The PEACH scale was adapted into Hebrew using the "back-translation" method. The study included 260 parents of children with NH and 32 parents of children with HL. Children were between 9 and 72 months old. Inclusion criteria for children with HL are as follows: bilateral, congenital, or moderate-severe to profound sensorineural HL using bilateral sensory devices. Parents evaluated their child's auditory performance in real-life situations using the PEACH scale.

RESULTS

A Cronbach's alpha analysis (N = 292) scored medium-to-high values: α = .86, α = .74, and α = .78 for the entire scale and in quiet and noisy situations, respectively. Noise affected the auditory performance of both groups, with the effect being more pronounced than the hearing status, although it was more prominent in children with HL. The auditory performance of children with NH improved rapidly up to 18 months of age and then progressed more gradually to reach a plateau of 85% at 36 months of age. Chronological age contributed to auditory performance over the entire scale and in quiet situations for children with NH, whereas maternal education contributed to auditory performance in quiet situations for children with HL.

CONCLUSION

The Hebrew version of the PEACH scale provides a useful tool for evaluating the auditory performance of young children, although it is influenced by cultural differences beyond 36 months of age.

French adaptation and validation of parents' evaluation of aural/oral performance of children (PEACH) scale in children

OBJECTIVE

Hearing loss can seriously impact children's quality of life. Disease-specific questionnaires are required to optimise medical care. This study aims to translate, adapt and validate the French version of the PEACH score for the auditory performance of children.

DESIGN

This is a controlled, prospective study, conducted between April and October 2020. The translation was conducted using a forward-backward technique, and statistical validation was conducted with a test and re-test, on a patient population and a control population.

STUDY SAMPLE

Patients were included if they were 1-11 years old, and had at least 30 dB hearing loss in one ear. The mean age was 6 years for the 39 patients and 3.9 years for the 34 controls.

RESULTS

Reproducibility, measured by Spearman's coefficient between global scores of the test and re-test was 0.78 (p < 0.001). The test was internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha was 0.89) and item per item construct validity was satisfactory. The ROC curve showed a moderate area under the curve (0.74 p < 0.001) with 67% sensitivity and 73% specificity.

CONCLUSIONS

The French PEACH had good statistical properties, although a brief 13-item questionnaire, and can be used for evaluation of the disease-specific quality of life for young children with hearing loss.

The Chinese version of the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) rating scale for infants and children with normal hearing

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to establish Chinese norms for the Chinese version of the Parent's Evaluation of Aural/Oral of Children (PEACH) rating scale.

DESIGN AND STUDY SAMPLE

The PEACH scores were collected from 198 parents whose children have normal hearing. The test-retest reliability of the PEACH scale was evaluated in a subgroup of 34 parents. Another 27 parents also filled out a Putonghua Communicative Development Inventory which was used to explore the relationship between the PEACH ratings and language scores.

RESULTS

The normative curve was established using a logit regression function. The total scores increase rapidly with increasing age. A plateau starts from 22 months with the PEACH score reaching 90% and achieves the maximum score of 95% by 47 months of age. The test-retest analyses showed high reliability for all subscales, with all the correlation coefficients values exceeding 0.9 (p < 0.01). The 90% and 95% confidence intervals were provided to facilitate evaluation of differences between scores obtained under different conditions. A significant correlation was found between the PEACH total score and language performance (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Normative data from the Chinese population was provided to enable performance of an individual child to be related to their normally hearing peers.

Reliability of parental assessment of auditory skills in young children: a cross-sectional study in Italian language

OBJECTIVE

Hearing impairments (HIs) that progress or have later onset may have specific effects on language and cognitive development, but are difficult to suspect during routine primary care visits. Family concern regarding hearing is thought to represent an important risk factor requiring audiological examination. Yet it is not clear how successful parents are in recognising the consequences or specific suspect elements of HI in young children. The aim of this study is to verify whether parents of at-risk children recognise the presence of HI through a parental questionnaire that draws attention to auditory skills development and compares them with language and communication skills.

DESIGN

Observational study.

SETTING

From 2013 to 2019, parents were administered the Questionnaire on Hearing and Communication Abilities before audiological evaluation of their children at a secondary care institute.

PARTICIPANTS

309 Italian children (1-36 months old) at risk of HI.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Questionnaire sensitivity in predicting the presence and type of HI.

RESULTS

Parents report a decrease in auditory skills for children with sensorineural HI (Χ²(2)=14.4, p=0.003), with an increased concern expressed in 59% compared with 24% in normally hearing children. Both auditory (r=-0.18, p=0.002) and comprehension (r=-0.13, p=0.057) skills weakly but negatively correlated with a diagnosis of HI. On discriminant analysis, the positive predictive value of the questionnaire was 0.78, but with low sensitivity (0.39).

CONCLUSIONS

Parents of children with a verified risk of HI have some capacity to recognise non-typical auditory behaviour. Thus, it is important to assess parental concerns during primary care health visits, and a targeted questionnaire on auditory abilities can complement existing screening procedures. However, given the low sensitivity of the questionnaire, we conclude that for a reliable detection of HIs that progress or have later onset an objective screening tool is always required.