Glasgow Benefit Inventory in Cochlear Implantation: A Reliable Though Ancillary Quality of Life Metric

OBJECTIVE The Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) is a health-related quality of life instrument used to detect changes in health status following otolaryngologic interventions. Despite its use in cochlear implant literature, assessment of utility, reliability, and validity of GBI in an adult cochlear implants (CI) patient population has yet to be performed. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. SETTING Academic, tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Postlingually deafened, adult CI patients with at least 1 year of device use. INTERVENTIONS Five hundred fifty-two patients were administered GBI questionnaires at least 1 year following CI activation during follow-up visits. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES GBI total and subscale scoring were compared to either the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults or Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly. Moreover, a factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were performed to determine GBI validity and internal reliability, respectively. RESULTS The average overall GBI score was 38.6 ± 21.7. This was weakly correlated to the reduction in Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults/Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (τb = 0.282, p