청능재활이란 청각장애인이 장애로 인해 일상 속 의사소통 에 지장을 받는 정도를 평가하고, 중재하고, 관리함으로써 듣기 영역이 제대로 기능하지 못하여 발생하는 제한을 최소화하는 과정이다(ASHA, 2001). 그러므로 의사소통에 지장이 있는 정 도 및 제한을 올바르게 평가하는 것이 청능재활의 시작이며, 이 를 바탕으로 보청기 및 인공와우를 처방하게 되므로 가장 중요 한 과정이라 할 수 있다. 특히 청각장애 아동의 경우에는 청각 및 언어 발달 지체의 위험이 따르기 때문에 청각장애의 조속한 발견 및 평가의 중요성이 더욱 강조된다. 이를 위해 임상 현장에 서 행동청능평가, 전기음향학적 및 전기생리학적 평가 등과 더 불어 다양한 설문지 및 체크리스트 등이 적극 활용되고 있다. 청각장애 아동 대상의 설문지는 아동 청각발달의 정도에 따라 특정한 청각행동을 주변의 보호자가 관찰할 수 있으리란 것을 전제하며, 오랜 기간 아동을 관찰해 온 보호자의 관점을 통해 아동의 청각행동을 손쉽게 평가할 수 있다는 장점이 있다.
Purpose: The Auditory Behavior in Everyday Life (ABEL) questionnaire has been proven for its reliability and validity across various cultures for assessing auditory behaviors of children with hearing loss. The study’s purpose was to translate the ABEL questionnaire into Korean and verify reliability and validity of Korean version of ABEL (ABEL-K). Methods: After translation, the ABEL-K evaluated for appropriateness, and back translated by a bilingual user to compare to the original regarding semantic equivalence. ABEL-K was completed by 48 parents of children (from ages 3-15 years) with hearing loss (9 children with hearing aids and 39 children with cochlear implants). Among the 48 children, 11 were in preschool, 16 in elementary, and 21 in secondary. Internal consistency reliability of ABEL-K was verified by Chronbach’s alpha. The mixed factorial ANOVA was conducted to compare the age group and the evaluation areas (aural-oral, auditory awareness, and social/conversational skills). The Pearson Correlation Coefficient between the scores and chronological age, and scores and period of CI experience were evaluated, respectively. Results: The results indicated that although ABEL-K showed good internal consistency reliability (α = 0.90), there seems to be issues in its validity due to ambiguous expression and the cultural differences. The ABEL scores among age groups were not significantly different. However, there was a significant difference in ABEL scores between auditory awareness and social/conversational skill areas. There was significant correlation with CI experience, but not with chronological age. Conclusion: Thus, this study suggests a way that ABEL-K should be utilized, taking precautions in the interpretation of the results.
INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSIONS REFERENCES
