Abstract

Recreational noise exposure and its impact on hearing is a problem to which increasing attention is being paid. In Spanish, it is necessary to have a reliable and valid instrument that is capable of describing the extent of noise exposure. The aim was to create and validate an instrument to determine listening habits and levels of recreational noise exposure in young people. We performed a transversal questionnaire validation study using university students. We assessed the validity of the content and appearance of the Recreational Hearing Habits Questionnaire (CHAR in Spanish) through experts' judgment. Then we piloted the administration of semantic adaptation with 30 students. Finally, the instrument was applied to 335 Chilean university students, obtaining with these indicators that demonstrated convergent validity of the construct, criterion and reliability. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, as well as correlation and agreement tests. It was confirmed that 14 questions in the questionnaire have a good item-test correlation, having also a factorial structure that indicates the existence of three-dimensions. The questionnaire has good internal consistency and convergent validity with the Noise Exposure Questionnaire. In addition, the score obtained in the CHAR is a predictor of the presence of notch at frequencies of 4 kHz in the right ear and 6 kHz in the left. The CHAR is useful for determining listening habits and thereby recreational noise exposure, indicating good psychometric properties.