Development of the Social Participation Restrictions Questionnaire (SPaRQ) through consultation with adults with hearing loss, researchers, and clinicians: a content evaluation study

Heffernan, Eithne; Coulson, Neil S.; Ferguson, Melanie

Abstract

Objective - This research aimed to evaluate the content of the Social Participation Restrictions Questionnaire (SPaRQ) in terms of its relevance, clarity, comprehensiveness, acceptability to adults with hearing loss, and responsiveness.

Design - Cognitive interviews and a subject matter expert survey were conducted. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis and a taxonomy of questionnaire clarity problems. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the survey data.

Study sample - Fourteen adults with hearing loss participated in the cognitive interviews. Twenty clinicians and academics completed the subject matter expert survey.

Results - The majority of the SPaRQ content was found to be relevant, clear, comprehensive, and acceptable. However, an important clarity problem was identified: many adults with hearing loss struggled to switch from answering positively-worded items (e.g. ‘I can attend social gatherings’) to answering negatively-worded items (e.g. ‘I feel isolated’). Several subject matter experts found responsiveness difficult to assess. The SPaRQ was amended where necessary.

Conclusions - Few hearing-specific questionnaires have undergone content evaluation. This study highlights the value of content evaluation as a means of identifying important flaws and improving the quality of a measure. The next stage of this research is a psychometric evaluation of the measure.

Citation

Heffernan, E., Coulson, N. S., & Ferguson, M. (in press). Development of the Social Participation Restrictions Questionnaire (SPaRQ) through consultation with adults with hearing loss, researchers, and clinicians: a content evaluation study. International Journal of Audiology, https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2018.1483585

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 21, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 11, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 3, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of Audiology
• Print ISSN: 1499-2027
• Electronic ISSN: 1708-8186
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2018.1483585
• Keywords: Hearing loss; Audiology; Outcome measurement; Questionnaire; Qualitative research; Cognitive interviews; Social participation; Participation restrictions
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/944810
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14992027.2018.1483585
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Audiology on 02/07/2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14992027.2018.1483585