{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T08:48:29Z","timestamp":1776070109000,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,27]],"date-time":"2025-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745712000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000055","name":"National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institute of Health (NIH)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R21DC017214"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21DC017214"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000055","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Clinics and Practice"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: To develop and validate the Tinnitus Qualities and Impact Questionnaire (TQIQ), a new tool for evaluating the perceived qualities of tinnitus sound. Method: The study was part of two clinical trials on internet-based tinnitus interventions, using cross-sectional (n = 380) and pretest\u2013posttest data (n = 280). Participants completed various questionnaires online, including the newly developed TQIQ and measures of tinnitus severity (Tinnitus Functional Index; TFI), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7; GAD-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 9; PHQ-9), insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index; ISI), and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L Visual Analog Scale; VAS). The psychometric properties of the TQIQ were assessed, including construct validity, internal consistency reliability, floor and ceiling effects, interpretability, and responsiveness to treatment. Results: Exploratory factor analysis resulted in two factors that accounted for 57% of the variance\u2014internal and external tinnitus qualities. Overall, 92% convergent validity predictions were confirmed; TQIQ total scores strongly (\u22650.6) or moderately (0.30 to 0.59) correlated with the TFI, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and ISI. The known-groups validity prediction was confirmed as individuals with an overall TFI score &gt; 50 (severe) obtained significantly higher TQIQ scores. All internal consistency reliability statistics were within the required range (Cronbach\u2019s \u03b1 &gt; 0.8). Floor and ceiling effects were negligible. ROC established clinically important cut-off scores, enhancing the interpretability of tinnitus severity classification. Finally, 89% convergent validity predictions were confirmed; TQIQ and TFI change scores were moderately correlated, indicating good responsiveness of the former to treatment. Conclusions: The TQIQ has adequate psychometric properties, providing a standardized measure for the assessment of characteristics of tinnitus sound in clinical practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/clinpract15050087","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,4]],"date-time":"2025-05-04T20:57:16Z","timestamp":1746392236000},"page":"87","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Development and Psychometric Validation of Tinnitus Qualities and Impact Questionnaire"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1254-8407","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vinaya","family":"Manchaiah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"},{"name":"UC Health Hearing and Balance, University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"},{"name":"Virtual Hearing Lab, Collaborative Initiative Between University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Pretoria, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"},{"name":"Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa"},{"name":"Department of Speech and Hearing, Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4753-6745","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gerhard","family":"Andersson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Link\u00f6ping University, 581-83 Link\u00f6ping, Sweden"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, 717-77 Stockholm, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9434-9160","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eldr\u00e9 W.","family":"Beukes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virtual Hearing Lab, Collaborative Initiative Between University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Pretoria, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"},{"name":"Vision and Hearing Sciences Research Group, School of Psychology and Sports Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2189-4843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marc A.","family":"Fagelson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA"},{"name":"Audiologic Rehabilitation Laboratory, Auditory Vestibular Research Enhancement Award Program, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Mountain Home, TN 37684, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8313-1636","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"De Wet","family":"Swanepoel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"},{"name":"Virtual Hearing Lab, Collaborative Initiative Between University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Pretoria, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"},{"name":"Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eithne","family":"Heffernan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK"},{"name":"Hearing Sciences, Mental Health and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2QL, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8416-519X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David","family":"Maidment","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3UT, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.pbr.2020.05.022","article-title":"Exploring tinnitus heterogeneity","volume":"260","author":"Beukes","year":"2021","journal-title":"Prog. 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