Psychometric evaluation of the tinnitus impact questionnaire using patients seeking help for tinnitus or tinnitus with hyperacusis

Hashir Aazh*, Chloe Hayes, Brian C.J. Moore, Silia Vitoratou

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Tinnitus Impact Questionnaire (TIQ), whose questions focus on assessing the impact of tinnitus on the patient’s day to day activities, mood, and sleep, and not on hearing difficulties. Design: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Study sample: Data were included for 172 adult patients who attended a tinnitus and hyperacusis clinic in the UK within a six-month period and who had completed the TIQ. Results: Two items whose scores were very highly correlated with those for other items were removed, leaving seven items. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a single factor for the TIQ. A multiple causes multiple indicator model showed significant but very small direct effects of age on TIQ scores for two items, after adjustment for gender. The TIQ had excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89. The total TIQ score was moderately to strongly correlated with scores for the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, Screening for Anxiety and Depression-Tinnitus questionnaire, Hyperacusis Questionnaire, and Hyperacusis Impact Questionnaire, indicating convergent validity. The TIQ score was weakly correlated with the pure-tone average hearing threshold, indicating discriminant validity. Conclusions: The TIQ is a brief, valid and internally consistent questionnaire for assessing the impact of tinnitus.

Original languageEnglish
JournalINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDIOLOGY
Early online date2 Aug 2022
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 2 Aug 2022

Keywords

  • hyperacusis
  • outcome measure
  • psychometry
  • questionnaire
  • Tinnitus

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