Validation of a Moroccan Arabic Version of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI-M).

Objective: Cultural adaptation of the tinnitus handicap inventory questionnaire to the Moroccan dialect version.

Method: We conducted a prospective study over a 3 years period (January 2017-January 2020) in the Otolaryngology Department of Casablanca University hospital. Translation was produced by a forward-backward procedure with analysis of the psychometric properties of the Moroccan version of the tinnitus handicap inventory.

Results: The final Moroccan version of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) was given to 83 otosclerosis patients suffering from tinnitus. They filled the questionnaire twice before surgery and 1 year after surgery.The item-total correlations are all statistically significant (p < 0.001) and vary between 0.279 (item 15) and 0.817 (item 12).The internal consistency of the Moroccan version of THI, assessed through Cronbach's α, was found to be excellent at 0.953. The interclass correlation showed an excellent reliability for all subscales (0.999-1).THI scores decreased significantly from baseline to 1-year postoperative follow-up on all subscale scores, indicating clinical improvement.

Conclusion: The Moroccan version of THI has a good reliability comparable with translations in other languages and the original version. It is a valid tool to assess tinnitus improvement after otosclerosis surgery.