Development and standardization of tinnitus handicap inventory in Nepali

Tinnitus is a frequent but sparsely understood condition of human ear featuring unusual sensation of acoustic energy. A symptom specific inventory forassessment of tinnitus may aid in understanding the severity of the problem and its impact on individuals' life. Initially, English version of THI was the only existing assessment tool available in measuring the impact of tinnitus. Being a self-report inventory, it is vital that the individuals with tinnitus understand the language foradministering instrument. Therefore, the present study aimed at developing and validating self-administering Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) in Nepali language.

Standard method of translation-back-translation was utilized where English version of THI was translated and customized by four professors with degree in Nepalilanguage. Later it was administered on 20 native literate Nepali speakers whose first language was Nepali for content validity. Therefore it was administered on 120 patients and total scores under different subscales were measured.

Out of 120 individuals, 20% of them had severe, 20% had moderate, 26% of them had mild and 34% of them had slight tinnitus handicap scores. Nepali version of THI was found to have an alpha value of 0.92. Across three subscales (emotional,functional and catastrophic), Nepali version of THI got the alpha scores of 0.91, 0.91 and 0.80 and Item-total correlation of 0.26-0.74, 0.057-0.90 and 0.54-0.90 respectively.

Present study confirmed that the THI-Nepali version has good internal consistency and reliability as compare to the original English version and otherestablished versions. Therefore, THI-Nepali version can be used as a robust, easy to use, reliable and valid tool in self-assessment of tinnitus handicap in Nepali speaking individuals with tinnitus in clinical as well as research setting. However, test-retest reliability of the developed questionnaire is essential.