What is it?
The ECHO survey has been designed to measure prefit expectations of hearing aid use. It was developed as a companion instrument to the SADL questionnaire. As with the SADL, it produces a global score and four sub-scales: Positive Effect, Services & Cost, Negative Features, and Personal Image. These scale scores can then be compared with the range of scores representing realistic expectations for hearing aid use.
The ECHO could be used to examine unrealistic expectations a potential hearing aid user may have, in order to direct counseling to address these areas before the hearing aid is issued. This may prevent unnecessary disappointment with the experience of hearing aid use.
How do I get it?
You can download and print a copy of the ECHO questionnaire and the manual scoring documents from this page. ECHO scoring software for windows is also available for free download on this page. The ECHO software provides a way for patients or hearing aid professionals to enter responses directly into an electronic record that can be saved for future use. Responses are scored automatically and can easily be compared to included norms.
Obtaining the ECHO questionnaire and Scoring Instructions
The questionnaire and manual scoring files are in PDF format and can be viewed, printed, and saved to your computer using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program.
The 3 documents available are the ECHO Questionnaire, instructions for manual scoring, and a blank template for plotting an individual’s scores against norms for realistic expectations
Translations have been provided by persons who were fluent in both English and the target language. Translation guides were provided. However, we cannot guarantee that translated items have not been modified from the original. New translations are added as they become available to us.
Obtaining the ECHO Automatic Scoring Software
The ECHO software Windows version is available from the AUSP Software Group as a zip file for free download on this page (at right).
References
Cox, R.M., and Alexander, G.C. “Expectations about hearing aids and their relationship to fitting outcome.” Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 11: 368-382 (2000).
Translations of the ECHO Questionnaire
Malay (in progress)
Automatic Scoring Documents
Downloadable Scoring Software