Psychometric Data for the Reliability and Validity of the Mini Tinnitus Questionnaire Turkish Version (TQ 12-T)

Objective: To investigate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Mini-Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ 12-T). Methods: The study consisted of 120 patients with tinnitus (60 F + 60 M; Mean Age: 46.8±15.1 years). Audiological evaluation, tinnitus mapping, tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) and TQ 12-T were applied to the participants. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. To evaluate the accuracy of the original findings, a retest was performed with 20% of the participants. The validity of the TQ 12-T was assessed, analyzing the correlation with THI. We assessed construct validity by analyzing the patients according to their age and tinnitus duration. Results: High internal consistency, reliability (α=0.87) and a high intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 0.96, p < 0.001) were found. The internal consistency reliabilities of the two subscales were α=0.74 and α= 0.84 for “health anxiety” and “cognitive distress,” respectively. There was a strong positive correlation between THI and TQ 12-T total scores (r=0.985, p<0.01). Conclusion: TQ 12-T is a valid, reliable and brief questionnaire. TQ 12-T could easily be used alongside other tinnitus or health-related questionnaires since it takes only a few minutes to complete.