Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Chinese tinnitus functional index.

Objectives: To establish the reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Chinese version of the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI-CH) in measuring tinnitus severity in Hong Kong Chinese population.

Design: This is a cross-sectional psychometric validation study.

Study Sample: Subjects were 124 adult Chinese who attended the audiology clinics in a hospital setting for tinnitus treatment.

Results: The TFI-CH showed good internal consistency reliability (α = 0.94) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.84). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the TFI-CH has eight factors which are exactly the same as the original version. The TFI-CH has good convergent and divergent validity as supported by the strong correlation of the overall scale with other tinnitus-related distress measures (r = 0.86, p < 0.01) and weaker correlation with the general health status measures. Moderate to strong effect sizes obtained 3 months after initial visit indicated that the TFI-CH is responsive in detecting change in tinnitus suffering.

Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that the TFI-CH is a reliable and valid measure which should be useful in both clinical and research settings for intake assessment and for measuring treatment-related changes in tinnitus.