Malay Version of Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire and Quality of Life of Patients with Post-lingual Deafness

Objective: The Nijmegen Cochlear Implant questionnaire (NCIQ) was used to gauge the quality of life (QOL) improvement among cochlear implant (CI) users who suffered from post-lingual deafness. This study aimed to determine the consistency and reliability of the Malay version of the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant questionnaire (NCIQ-M) and to report the QOL of patients using NCIQ-M.Methods: This study has two phases: Phase I involves the translation of the NCIQ from English to Malay, followed by internal consistency and test-retest reliability assessment of the final version of NCIQ-M. Phase II involves QOL assessment of post-lingual deafness using NCIQ-M.Results: Twenty CI users and 20 non-CI users answered the NCIQ-M. Test-retest reliability analysis of the NCIQ-M was performed using an intraclass correlation coefficient, achieving scores of more than 0.85. Internal consistency was analysed with Cronbach alpha of more than 0.70 in all subdomains. Scores between the two groups of subjects were analyzed using an independent sample t-test. Good internal consistency, intraclass correlation, and test-retest reliability were obtained. Scores in all six subdomains of the NCIQ-M are significantly higher in the CI user group than in the non-CI user group. Conclusions: The NCIQ-M is a consistent and reliable subjective questionnaire to determine the QOL of CI users concerning physical, psychological, and social functioning.