Cut-off score of the Khalfa Hyperacusis Questionnaire with 10 selected items

Abstract

Objective

In the management of hyperacusis, the hyperacusis questionnaire (HQ) is a frequently used measure. It is comprised of 14 items, with a total score of 42 points. We have developed the Japanese version of the HQ, but the validity of the factors has not been considered. This study was performed to re-evaluate the HQ to confirm its validity and reliability.

Design

Exploratory factor analysis was performed and we removed the problematic items with low factor loadings and re-evaluated the reliability and validity.

Study Sample

Patients with hyperacusis (n = 109) were included. Hyperacusis was confirmed based on the patients’ complaint of “intolerance to sound”. Patients without hyperacusis but with tinnitus and/or hearing loss (n = 103) were also included.

Results

Items 1, 5, 6, and 11 had low factor loadings; therefore, we removed these four items. The HQ with 10 items had high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.926). The mean total scores for the patients with and without hyperacusis were 16.3 and 4.0, respectively; the inter-group difference was statistically significant. We found the best score that maximised sensitivity and specificity was 8.

Conclusions

The HQ with 10 items, up to 30 points and a cut-off score of 8 is appropriate for classifying hyperacusis.

Keywords:

• Hyperacusis
• tinnitus
• questionnaire
• hearing loss
• self-rating scales

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.