Hyperacusis Assessment Questionnaire-A New Tool Assessing Hyperacusis in Subjects with Tinnitus

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Psychometrics
• Otolaryngology

Background:

• Hyperacusis, characterized by decreased sound tolerance, presents diagnostic challenges due to its subjective nature.
• It frequently co-occurs with tinnitus, necessitating reliable patient-reported outcome measures.
• Existing assessment tools may not fully capture the multifaceted experience of hyperacusis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a brief questionnaire for assessing hyperacusis.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the new instrument.
• To capture hyperacusis severity related to loudness, fear, and pain.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 14-item Hyperacusis Assessment Questionnaire.
• Psychometric evaluation including factor structure, validity, internal consistency, and reproducibility.
• Administration to 106 adult patients with hyperacusis and tinnitus, alongside other validated questionnaires and audiological assessments.

Main Results:

• The Hyperacusis Assessment Questionnaire demonstrated a robust three-factor structure, explaining 70.5% of the variance.
• Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and reproducibility (ICC = 0.96) were confirmed.
• Convergent and divergent validity were established through correlations with related measures.

Conclusions:

• The Hyperacusis Assessment Questionnaire is a brief, psychometrically sound tool for assessing hyperacusis severity.
• It effectively measures loudness, fear, and pain associated with hyperacusis.
• The questionnaire is suitable for use in clinical practice and research for patients experiencing hyperacusis and tinnitus.