[Development of a German version of the Functioning After Pediatric Cochlear Implantation (FAPCI) questionnaire].
BACKGROUND
The Functioning After Pediatric Cochlear Implantation (FAPCI) instrument was recently developed to determine the communicative performance of 2-5-year-old prelingually deafened, cochlear-implanted children. Because of its high reliability and validity, as well as possible additional information compared with existing questionnaires, the 23-item parent-proxy questionnaire was translated from U.S. English to German prior to validation.


METHODS
Initially, the German inventory was qualitatively developed by experts in audiology and speech pathology in collaboration with a professional American translator. Based on a sample of parents' responses, the outcome was quantitatively validated using psychometric methods (Cronbach's alpha, principal components analysis). Finally, the nomological validity was verified by correlating the overall FAPCI value with an external criterion (i.e., hearing age).


RESULTS
For almost all age groups, Cronbach's alpha exceeded the minimum value of the original study (0.86). Principal components analysis revealed a two-factor solution (speech perception/production). The fitting of a nonparametric regression line to the data points showed that the total FAPCI score was positively associated with the time of implant use.


CONCLUSIONS
The results show concordance between the German and the English versions of the FAPCI. The two instruments agree in reliability as well as in validity. The suitability of the German version in the clinical and therapeutic routine needs to be confirmed in further investigations.
Grugel
L
L
Jean-Uhrmacher-Institut für Klinische HNO-Forschung, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany. linda.grugel@uhrmacherinstitut.de
Streicher
B
B
Lang-Roth
R
R
Walger
M
M
von Wedel
H
H
Meister
H
H
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006320:Hearing Tests / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome