ADAPTATION OF LITTLEARS AUDITORY QUESTIONNAIRE IN TAMIL

Objectives: To adapt the LittlEARS Questionnaire in Tamil language and evaluate it in Tamil speaking cochlear implant children. Methods: LEAQ was translated to the Tamil language by a back-translation method following the guidelines of the World Health Organisation. The translated version was later administered to 100 randomly selected parents of cochlear implantees, scoring was done out of 35 for each child. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 20.0 were descriptive statistics were carried out extracting the mean, standard deviation and range. Results: The results got did not significantly deviate from the normative, thus being able to quantify hierarchical auditory development skills and performance of children. Conclusion: LEAQ is a good subjective tool that can measure the outcome of cochlear implant/hearing aids, it must be translated and validated based on cultural and linguistic background. Article visualizations