Reliability and validity of a Korean version of the tinnitus primary function questionnaire

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a Korean version of the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire (K-TPFQ). Method: A total of 79 subjects participated in the study. All participants completed the K-TPFQ, and the Korean versions of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, & Kupfer, 1989; Sohn, Kim, Lee, & Cho, 2012), the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961; Jo, Park, Jo, Ryu, & Han, 2007), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire (Cho & Choi, 1989; Spielberger & Gorsuch, 1983), and the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (Kuk, Tyler, Russell, & Jordan, 1990). Results: The K-TPFQ exhibited good or high internal consistency and reliability (Cronbach’s alpharange: .91–.95, item-total correlation range: .50–.82). The total score derived from the items of the K-TPFQ and its subcategories was moderately correlated with that of questionnaires that measure similar parameters (Pearson correlation coefficient range: .50–.79). Conclusions: Overall, the results of this study indicate that the K-TPFQ is reliable and valid. Therefore, the current translated version of the K-TPFQ is applicable to subjects with Korean as their 1st language and proves to be a useful tinnitus questionnaire.