The Development of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory

Abstract

• Conventional vestibulometric techniques are inadequate for quantifying the impact of dizziness on everyday life. The 25-item Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) was developed to evaluate the selfperceived handicapping effects imposed by vestibular system disease. The development of the preliminary (37 items) and final versions (25 items) of the DHI are described. The items were subgrouped into three content domains representing functional, emotional, and physical aspects of dizziness and unsteadiness. Cronbach's α coefficient was employed to measure reliability based on consistency of the preliminary version. The final version of the DHI was administered to 106 consecutive patients and demonstrated good internal consistency reliability. With the exception of the physical subscale, the mean values for DHI scale scores increased significantly with increases in the frequency of dizziness episodes. Test-retest reliability was high. (Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1990;116:424-427)