French Adaptation and Validation of the International Outcome Inventory on Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) Questionnaire.

Hearing rehabilitation using hearing aids keeps increasing in the general population. Patient-related outcome measures are essential to evaluate benefits. Although the IOI-HA is routinely used in France, its translated version from 2002 has never been validated. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the French version of the IOI-HA questionnaire. Controlled, prospective, monocentric study performed between February 2024 and January 2025. The forward-backward technique was used for translation of the questionnaire. 100 patients fitted with hearing aids completed the questionnaire. Thirty-five patients were retested 15 days after first completion. Internal consistency, assessed by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.863. Mean IOI-HA item scores ranged from 3.3 to 4.57. All seven items had a high degree of consistency with the total score, except for item Q1 which had a moderate score (0.45). Cronbach's alpha after item deletion confirmed internal consistency. Intra-class correlation coefficients ranged from 0.622 (Q7) to 0.767 (Q5) and were all statistically significant ( < 0.001), revealing high reliability over time. No significant correlation was found between item scores and age, unilateral or bilateral hearing aid use or accompanying symptoms (tinnitus, dizziness). The French translation of the IOI-HA questionnaire, published in 2002, is a valid and reliable questionnaire evaluating hearing aid satisfaction. This validated questionnaire can now be used in daily clinical practice.