Psychometric Features of Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI): Development and Standardization in Gujarati Language.

Objective: Dizziness is a sensation of spatial disorientation of rotating or non-rotating in nature, mostly due to Oto-neurological insults. A symptom-specific dizziness handicap inventory may aid in understanding the severity of the condition and its impact on the quality of life. Therefore, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory-English version (DHI-E) was used as the most reliable subjective tool to assess the effect of dizziness in various aspects of life and so was translated into several languages. Hence, the present study aimed at developing and standardizing the self-administering Dizziness Handicap Inventory - Gujarati version (DHI-G).

Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was performed. 50 participants, i.e. 18 males and 32 females aged between 15 to 55 years with complaints of vertigo/dizziness were recruited for the study. The questionnaire was re-administered to thirty of the total participants after 10 days of initial administration for examining test-retest reliability.

Results: DHI-G achieved an overall alpha score of 0.92 suggesting good internal consistency and the score of 0.84, 0.82 and 0.81 on three subscales i.e. physical, functional and emotional respectively. Intra class correlation (ICC) revealed good test-retest reliability with a score of 0.81.

Conclusion: DHI-G can be used as a reliable and valid tool in the clinical and research setting extensively.