Refinement and Validation of the Social Participation Restrictions Questionnaire: An Application of Rasch Analysis and Traditional Psychometric Analysis Techniques.

The refinement sample was 279; the paper notes that 500 is sometimes recommended for this type of analysis. Most participants came from one research database, including many experienced hearing aid users and research participants. The validation subgroup with high anxiety or depression scores had 25 participants, smaller than the 50 recommended for subgroup testing. All questionnaires in Study 2 were completed at one time, so answers to one measure could influence answers to another. The final questionnaire has not yet been tested for responsiveness or interpretability. Two Social Perceptions items may need a 7-option response scale rather than the 11-option scale, especially for high-stakes use. Some workplace and education items were removed because many participants left them blank, and the paper notes that 66% of participants were retired. Study 1 used paper questionnaires, while Study 2 used online questionnaires, so format differences may have affected responses.

Do not treat the SPaRQ as a proven outcome measure for judging whether hearing rehabilitation works. It has strong psychometric properties in these samples, but responsiveness and interpretability have not yet been tested, and the two subscales should not simply be added into one total score for high-stakes decisions.