scholarly journals All for One and One for All? – Examining Convergent Validity and Responsiveness of the German Versions of the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), and Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI)

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Boecking ◽  
Petra Brueggemann ◽  
Tobias Kleinjung ◽  
Birgit Mazurek

BackgroundMeasurement of tinnitus-related distress and treatment responsiveness is key in understanding, conceptualizing and addressing this often-disabling symptom. Whilst several self-report measures exist, the heterogeneity of patient populations, available translations, and treatment contexts requires ongoing psychometric replication and validation efforts.ObjectiveTo investigate the convergent validity and responsiveness of the German versions of the Tinnitus Questionnaire [TQ], Tinnitus Handicap Inventory [THI], and Tinnitus Functional Index [TFI] in a large German-speaking sample of patients with chronic tinnitus who completed a psychologically anchored 7-day Intensive Multimodal Treatment Programme.MethodsTwo-hundred-and-ten patients with chronic tinnitus completed all three questionnaires at baseline and post-treatment. Intraclass correlation coefficients determined the convergent validity of each questionnaire’s total and subscale scores. Treatment responsiveness was investigated by [a] comparing treatment-related change in responders vs. non-responders as classified by each questionnaire’s minimal clinically important difference-threshold, and [b] comparing agreement between the questionnaires’ responder classifications.ResultsThe total scores of all three questionnaires showed high agreement before and after therapy (TQ | THI: 0.80 [Pre], 0.83 [Post], TQ | TFI: 0.72 [Pre], 0.78 [Post], THI | TFI: 0.76 [Pre] 0.80 [Post]). All total scores changed significantly with treatment yielding small effect sizes. The TQ and TFI yielded comparable (19.65 and 18.64%) and the THI higher responder rates (38.15%). The TQ | THI and TQ | TFI showed fair, and the THI | TFI moderate agreement of responder classifications. Independent of classification, responders showed significantly higher change rates than non-responders across most scores. Each questionnaire’s total change score distinguished between responders and non-responders as classified by the remaining two questionnaires.ConclusionThe total scores of all three questionnaires show high convergent validity and thus, comparability across clinical and research contexts. By contrast, subscale scores show high inconsistency. Whilst the TFI appears well suited for research purposes, the THI may be better suited to measure psychological aspects of tinnitus-related distress and their changes with accordingly focused treatment approaches.

Author(s):  
Mohammad Ebrahim Mahdavi ◽  
Maryam Heydarpour Meymeh ◽  
Ahmadreza Nazeri ◽  
Hamid Jalilvand ◽  
Fatemeh Heidari ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: Tinnitus functional index (TFI) has been introduced as a standard self-assessment questionnaire for the evaluation of tinnitus severity and its negative consequences with enough sensitivity to detect the outcomes of treatment. The purpose of this study was to translate the original tinnitus functional index into Persian and to evaluate its reliability in a military population. Methods: The translation was performed in accordance with the Principles of Good Practice for the Translation and Cultural Adaptation Pro­cess for Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures. 32 military and veteran men with tinnitus aged 22−74 years participated in the current study. The participants completed the Persian version of the TFI and the second re-evaluation session was conducted over the telephone 10−14 days later. Both relative and absolute reliability indices were computed. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient(2,1) with consistency definition for the TFI subscales varied from good to excellent. The agreement between the TFI total scores in the evaluation and re-evaluation using Bland-Altman analysis was acceptable and only one case was not located within the limits of agreement. Conclusion: Initial evaluation of the Persian version of TFI shows acceptable results in terms of reliability. The evaluation of the Persian TFI in different populations of patients with tinnitus and its validity would facilitate its clinical appli­cation. Keywords: Tinnitus; questionnaire; Persian


Author(s):  
Masoumeh Dehghan ◽  
Farzaneh Fatahi ◽  
Nematollah Rouhbakhsh ◽  
Mohammad Ebrahim Mahdavi ◽  
Farzaneh Zamiri Abdollahi ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: Tinnitus can affect daily life. The evaluation of the affected aspects of life quality is highly dependent on the sub­jects’perception. Self-report questionnaires have been used to identify these affected aspects. In the present study, the relationship between the Persian versions of tinnitus functional index (TFI-P) and tinnitus handicap inventory (THI-P) was investigated. Methods: This is a comparative cross-sectional study conducted on 28 hearing-impaired and 27 normal hearing subjects with tinnitus in aged 18−60 years selected according to the inclusion criteria. Both groups completed the TFI-P and THI-P. Results: There was a significant and relatively strong relationship between the total scores of THI-P and TFI-P (r = 0.65) and also between the emotional subscale of TFI-P and the cata­strophic subscale of THI-P (r = 0.73). More­over, there was a moderate relationship between age factor and total score of TFI-P (r = −0.32), and between the cognitive subscale of TFI-P and age (r = 0.40). However, no significant difference was found between hearing-impaired and normal hearing subjects in terms of the  total score and subscale scores of TFI-P. Fur­thermore, we found a significant difference bet­ween female and male subjects in terms of the relaxation subscale of TFI-P, and between dura­tion of tinnitus and the quality of life subscale (r = 0.33). Conclusion: The scores of the THI-P and TFI-P questionnaires are related to each other and they can be used for measuring the negative effects of tinnitus. Keywords: Tinnitus; tinnitus functional index; tinnitus handicap inventory


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavlos Sarafis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the Greek version of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. Method: Eighty-six adult patients with chronic tinnitus participated in the study. Sociodemographic data and medical history were recorded during the interview. The patients underwent audiological examination and they were asked to fill in three questionnaires: the Greek version of the THI (THI-GR), the Greek version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the brief Tinnitus Severity Scale Questionnaire (TSSQ). Results: The THI-GR showed good internal consistency, comparable to the original version. Cronbach’s alpha was equal to 0.92, which suggests a robust reliability. All THI-GR subscales along with total score were significantly and positively correlated with the TSSQ grade and the audiogram results indicating the existence of convergent validity. Furthermore, THI-GR's subscales were significantly correlated with both State and Trait subscales, which indicates a correlation between tinnitus and stress. Conclusions: This study highlighted the high reliability and validity of the THI-GR as a self-report measure for the evaluation of tinnitus-related annoyance and psychological distress in clinical practice.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 382 ◽  
pp. 107796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laure Jacquemin ◽  
Griet Mertens ◽  
Paul Van de Heyning ◽  
Olivier M. Vanderveken ◽  
Vedat Topsakal ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 2361-2370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Zhu ◽  
Christian Duval ◽  
Patrick Boissy ◽  
Manuel Montero-Odasso ◽  
Guangyong Zou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Real-life community mobility (CM) measures for older adults, especially those with Parkinson’s disease (PD), are important tools when helping individuals maintain optimal function and quality of life. This is one of the first studies to compare an objective global positioning system (GPS) sensor and subjective self-report CM measures in an older clinical population. Methods Over 14 days, 54 people in Ontario, Canada with early to mid-stage PD (mean age = 67.5 ± 6.3 years; 47 men; 46 retired) wore a wireless inertial measurement unit with GPS (WIMU-GPS), and completed the Life Space Assessment and mobility diaries. We assessed the convergent validity, reliability and agreement on mobility outcomes using Spearman’s correlation, intraclass correlation coefficient, and Bland-Altman analyses, respectively. Results Convergent validity was attained by the WIMU-GPS for trip frequency (rs = .69, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.52–0.81) and duration outside (rs = .43, 95% CI = 0.18–0.62), but not for life space size (rs = .39, 95% CI = 0.14–0.60). The Life Space Assessment exhibited floor and ceiling effects. Moderate agreements were observed between WIMU-GPS and diary for trip frequency and duration (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.51–0.82; 0.67, 95% CI = 0.42–0.82, respectively). Disagreement was more common among nonretired individuals. Conclusions WIMU-GPS could replace diaries for trip frequency and duration assessments in older adults with PD. Both assessments are best used for retired persons. However, the Life Space Assessment may not reflect actual mobility.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e026712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Barth ◽  
Alexandra Kern ◽  
Sebastian Lüthi ◽  
Claudia M Witt

ObjectiveTo develop a short self-report instrument for the assessment of expectations (Expectation for Treatment Scale(ETS)) using acupuncture as a case example.DesignA cross-sectional assessment with retest after 1 week.SettingA web-based survey with patients suffering from pain.MethodsIn a three-step approach, we reduced the initially collected number of items from 17 to 9 and to 5, including expectations about coping ability, vitality, physical health and reduction of patient complaints. Items were selected according to internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha); convergent and divergent validities with related constructs (optimism, pessimism, resilience, perceived sensitivity to medicines, depression and others); 1-week retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)); and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).ResultsA total of 102 patients suffering from pain were included, and 54 of these patients completed the retest assessment. The final version of the ETS consisted of five items and had an excellent Cronbach’s alpha (0.90), with 72.33% variance on one single factor. Depression, pessimism and perceived sensitivity to medicines showed positive correlations with our expectation measure (r=0.23, r=0.20 and r=0.34, respectively); the correlation between the ETS and optimism was low (r=−0.07) and no correlation between the ETS and resilience was found (r=−0.07). Convergent validity was confirmed with a high correlation (r>0.90) between ETS and a treatment-specific measure of expectations. The retest ICC was 0.86, which showed high stability over 1 week. A CFA (n=439) with data from patients with low back pain confirmed the single-factor structure of the instrument.ConclusionThe ETS showed strong psychometric properties and covered a distinct construct. As the next step, the ETS might be implemented in different clinical conditions and settings to investigate psychometrics and its predictive power for treatment outcomes.


2000 ◽  
Vol 114 (11) ◽  
pp. 840-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Baguley ◽  
Rachel Humphriss ◽  
Catriona Hodgson

For research into tinnitus to be robust and credible, the use of well – validated instruments of self – perceived tinnitus handicap as outcome measures is essential. The tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) and the tinnitus questionnaire (TQ) are two such instruments which are in widespread use. Both questionnaires were administered by mail to 100 consecutive new patients of the Cambridge Tinnitus Clinic, and completed in randomized order. These patients had been referred by the otolaryngology team and had not undergone any tinnitus therapy. The response rate was 78 per cent, neither questionnaire being more acceptable to patients than the other. The convergent validity of the instruments was high, with total and subscale scores all being significantly correlated at the five per cent level (Spearman correlation coefficients). A number of subscale scores were not significantly correlated at the one per cent level however. In particular, the sleep disturbance element of the TQ was demonstrated to have some discriminant validity from the THI and from other elements of the TQ at the one per cent significance level. The THI and TQ have been demonstrated to have high convergent validity and are both suitable for tinnitus outcome studies involving the quantification of self – perceived tinnitus handicap. For research that aims to determine the specific effect of an intervention on tinnitus – related sleep disturbance, the TQ sleep subscale has potential utility. The hypothetical constructs of tinnitus handicap underlying the psychologist developed TQ and the audiologist – developed THI have been shown to be convergent.


GeroPsych ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kuemmel (This author contributed eq ◽  
Julia Haberstroh (This author contributed ◽  
Johannes Pantel

Communication and communication behaviors in situational contexts are essential conditions for well-being and quality of life in people with dementia. Measuring methods, however, are limited. The CODEM instrument, a standardized observational communication behavior assessment tool, was developed and evaluated on the basis of the current state of research in dementia care and social-communicative behavior. Initially, interrater reliability was examined by means of videoratings (N = 10 people with dementia). Thereupon, six caregivers in six German nursing homes observed 69 residents suffering from dementia and used CODEM to rate their communication behavior. The interrater reliability of CODEM was excellent (mean κ = .79; intraclass correlation = .91). Statistical analysis indicated that CODEM had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .95). CODEM also showed excellent convergent validity (Pearson’s R = .88) as well as discriminant validity (Pearson’s R = .63). Confirmatory factor analysis verified the two-factor solution of verbal/content aspects and nonverbal/relationship aspects. With regard to the severity of the disease, the content and relational aspects of communication exhibited different trends. CODEM proved to be a reliable, valid, and sensitive assessment tool for examining communication behavior in the field of dementia. CODEM also provides researchers a feasible examination tool for measuring effects of psychosocial intervention studies that strive to improve communication behavior and well-being in dementia.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Despina Moraitou ◽  
Anastasia Efklides

Metacognitive awareness of memory failure may take the form of the “blank in the mind” (BIM) experience. The BIM experience informs the person of a temporary memory failure and takes the form of a disruption in the flow of consciousness, of a moment of no content in awareness. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Blank in the Mind Questionnaire (BIMQ) designed to tap the BIM experience and differentiate it from other memory-related experiences, such as searching but not having in memory a piece of information (i.e., lack of knowledge). The participants (N = 493) were 249 younger adults (18–30 years old) and 244 older adults (63–89 years old) of both genders. Confirmatory factor analysis applied to the BIMQ confirmed a three-factor model with interrelations between the factors. The first factor represented the experience of lack of knowledge, the second represented the experience of BIM, and the third the person’s negative affective reactions to memory failure. The internal consistency of the three factors ranged from Cronbach’s α = .80 to .88. Convergent validity was shown with correlations of the BIMQ factors with self-report measures of cognitive and memory failures, and to the negative-affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).


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