Validity of Italian adaptation of the Vanderbilt Paediatric Dizziness Handicap Inventory.

Objective: The paediatric caregiver version of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI-PC) questionnaire is a useful Quality of Life (QoL) evaluation instrument for children experiencing dizziness, vertigo or unsteadiness. Its English version has been validated for use with a paediatric population between 5 and 12 years of age. The aim of this work is to validate the DHI-PC into Italian for both patient assessment and appropriate rehabilitative treatment planning.

Materials and methods: Cross-cultural adaptation of the DHI-PC was performed using standard techniques. Items of the original questionnaire were translated into Italian by two bilingual investigators. Two native English speakers carried out a back translation of the new version that was compared with the original to check that they had the same semantic value. A pre-final version was obtained by an expert committee and was applied in a pilot test.

Results: A total of 42 patient caregivers completed the final adapted questionnaire twice with an interval of 2 weeks. Internal consistency was excellent, with Cronbach's alpha = 0.95.

Conclusions: Our study showed evidence that the Italian version of DHI-PC is a valid and reliable tool to quantify the degree of dizziness handicap and its application is recommended.