The SSQclin: a short form of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) for clinical use

This is a short form of the SSQ that is suitable for routine usage in a broad clinical setting including patient groups with complex needs. This short form is used in the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

After a rigorous item reduction procedure, the SSQclin retained the measurement properties of the SSQ39 (Akeroyd et al, 2014), while resulting in slightly higher scores. The SSQclin has good internal consistency and construct validity was maintained by the inclusion of at least one question for each pragmatic subscale. With good criterion validity and high responsiveness rating it is useful in clinical settings for evaluating aural rehabilitation. Floor effects still remain on some items of the SSQclin in a clinical population, especially for patients with severe to profound hearing loss and patients who are CI candidates. Reproducibility needs to be assessed.