Test–retest reliability of two short Swedish versions of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the test–retest reliability of the Swedish versions of Dizziness Handicap Inventory short form (DHIsf) and Dizziness Handicap Inventory Screening version (DHI-S), and to assess correlations with the original Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). Thirty-nine subjects with dizziness and/or disequilibrium were recruited from two Ear, Nose and Throat departments, and completed the three DHI versions during their visit to the clinic. Thirty-one subjects also completed the questionnaires at home the next day. For relative reliability, intraclass correlation values between 0.89 and 0.91 were found. For absolute reliability, the method errors were 6 points for DHI, 1 point for DHIsf and 3 points for DHI-S. The correlation between DHIsf and DHI was r = −0.91 and between DHI-S and DHI r = 0.94. Answers were missing to 0.4% of the questions in DHI, 1.7% in DHIsf and 0.8% in DHI-S. It was concluded that DHIsf and DHI-S showed good test–retest reliability in line with that of DHI, and both short versions were highly correlated with the original version. The DHI-S showed better relative reliability, correlated stronger with DHI and had fewer missing answers compared with the DHIsf. DHI-S is therefore recommended when a short version of the DHI is needed.

Key words::

• Disability evaluation
• disequilibrium
• questionnaire
• reproducibility of results
• vertigo

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Kerstin Arvidsson, Pia Bergquist Larsson, Lisbeth Noaksson and Irene Ström for their contributions to the data collection of this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.