Objective: The objective with the project is to find a valid and culturally appropriate instrument for measuring the professionals' knowledge, skills and information needs on older residents’ hearing loss and hearing aids. Such an instrument could optimally be used in clinical praxis, as well as in research, for cross-sectional studies and for measuring change related to educational interventions.
Materials: The Norwegian instrument Knowledge, skills and information needs on residents’ hearing loss and hearing aids was identified in the literature. Its content was, by the research group regarded as relevant in a Swedish setting, although some cultural adaptations seemed to be necessary.
Methods: The translation and cultural adaptations were performed in line with the International Society For Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Task Force For Translation and Cultural Adapation, as outlined below:
1. We first asked one of the original authors for permission to translate the instrument.
2. Two of the authors (KB and MB) individually translated the content of the instrument. Their first language is Swedish, but both are familiar with the Norwegian language.
3. The other authors individually and together checked the translations and judged whether the statements were comprehensible in Swedish, and made necessary cultural adaptations. For example, the nursing home settings, and job types within this sector are not identical in the two countries.
4. An independent person, with knowledge of both Swedish and Norwegian (Norwegian being the first language), but with no previous knowledge of the instrument made a back-translation. This person had good knowledge of the setting, being a professor in geriatrics.
5. The authors compared the original version of the instrument with the back-translated version and discussed some inconsistences with the first author of the original instrument, before we all agreed on a first preliminary Swedish version.
6. 12 professionals having audiological competence, experience of nursing older people or teaching in nursing piloted the first preliminary Swedish version. They suggested some reformulations of questions and responses, which were discussed and decided on within the research group.
7. The next step is to test the preliminary Swedish version of the instrument, which will take place during the winter of 2019-2020. A sample of professionals working in different nursing homes in two Swedish counties will be invited to participate. The plan is to include 400 professionals. The sample size is based on an optimal sample for performing a factor analysis as part of the assessment of the psychometric properties of the preliminary Swedish version. It also allows cross-sectional sub-analyses, based on different groups of professionals and level of nursing home.
8. The project will be presented in a scientific journal, and used in a future intervention study. The instrument can also be used in clinical improvement work.
Conclusion: The results are promising. To the best of our knowledge, there is no Swedish instrument available for measuring professionals' knowledge, skills and information needs on older residents’ hearing loss and hearing aids. It seems necessary to have such an instrument, as the number of older people increases in Sweden, as well as worldwide. Impaired hearing, as well as assistive needs increase with age, and thus it is of great importance to ensure that professionals working with older people have sufficient knowledge to assist them.
2022.