Citation

Zmnako SSF, Chalabi YI. Sci. Rep. 2019; 9(1): e8542.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery-Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani, 46001, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1038/s41598-019-45033-1

PMID

31189988

Abstract

We cross-culturally adapted the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) into Central Kurdish dialect (DHI-CK) and verified its reliability and validity. A cross-sectional study was utilised to measure the impacts of vestibular disorders. Along with the DHI-CK, two comparators were introduced: the Visual Analogue Scale and the Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance. External and internal reliability were tested with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach's alpha/composite reliability, respectively. Patients (n = 301; mean age = 44.5 ± 15.2 years; 59.8% women) presenting with vestibular symptoms for at least 30 days who were diagnosed with a vestibular disorder and healthy participants (n = 43; mean age = 42 ± 17.9 years; 62.8% women) (N = 344). The DHI-CK and its three sub-scales-Physical, Emotional, Functional-exhibited good to excellent external reliability: ICCs in the test-retest were 0.93, 0.88, 0.91, and 0.92, respectively. Cronbach's alphas were 0.87, 0.71, 0.75, and 0.73, respectively. Convergent validity was supported by Spearman's correlations between the DHI-CK and the comparators. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis confirmed discriminating validity. The DHI-CK was cross-culturally validated. It is a reliable and valid tool that can be used by clinicians and researchers to quantify vestibular disorder outcomes in Kurdish-speaking populations.

Language: en