title: Translation of the dizziness handicap inventory into Chinese, validation of it, and evaluation of the quality of life of patients with chronic dizziness.
abstract: The aims of this study were 1) to translate the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) into Chinese and to validate it and 2) to use the Chinese DHI and the Chinese (Hong Kong) Short Form-36 Health Survey (Chinese [HK] SF-36) to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic dizziness. Seventy-one patients with 6 months of dizziness due to vestibular dysfunction were evaluated initially, 7 days later (n = 49), and after 7 months of medical treatment (n = 17). The Chinese DHI has been shown to retain good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient range, 0.64 to 0.87) and internal consistency (Cronbach alpha coefficient > 0.7) as compared to the original DHI and has a moderate responsiveness (0.54). We find the Chinese DHI to be a valid tool for evaluation of QoL of Chinese patients with dizziness. Low mean scores on the Chinese DHI and Chinese (HK) SF-36 signify that chronic dizziness has a considerable impact on the QoL of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dora Mei Ying
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: Lawrence Chun Kuen
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Dennis Kin Kwok
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: M Chin Pang
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004244:Dizziness / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating