Development and initial validation of a questionnaire to measure hearing parents' perceptions of health care professionals' advice

Abstract

This study reports the development of The Hearing Parents' Perceptions of Health Professionals' Advice Questionnaire (HPP/HPQ). This questionnaire was designed to investigate the impact of the advice and information that parents receive from health professionals during the time when their child's hearing loss is identified and how parents, in turn, make initial decisions about services and interventions for their deaf child. Once developed, the HPP/HPQ was partially validated on 2 separate samples. Analysis of data from both samples supported a 14-item questionnaire, with all items loading onto a single composite factor. The implications of how this tool can be used to both help improve health professionals' services and gain an understanding of how the relationship between hearing parents and health professionals might influence developmental outcomes in deaf children are discussed. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.