Translation and Assessment of the Validity, Reliability, Sensitivity, and Specificity of the Persian Version of the Dizziness Symptom Profile

Hossein  Soleimani; Devin L.  McCaslin; Mansoureh Adel  Ghahraman; Shohreh  Jalaie; Ali  Kouhi; Pedram  Borghei; Reza  Hoseinabadi

doi:10.18502/avr.v35i1.20575

Hossein Soleimani Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Devin L. McCaslin Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Mansoureh Adel Ghahraman Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Shohreh Jalaie School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Kouhi Otorhinolaryngology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Pedram Borghei Otorhinolaryngology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Reza Hoseinabadi Manchester Center for Audiology and Deafness, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/avr.v35i1.20575

Keywords: Vertigo; validity; reliability; dizziness symptom profile

Abstract

Background and Aim: Due to the annoying nature and prevalence of dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance, the need for rapid diagnosis, and challenges in the differential diagnosis of various vestibular disorders, this study aimed to translate the Dizziness Symptom Profile (DSP), which is a self-report tool that helps clinicians differentiate the most common vestibular system disorders, into the Persian language and evaluate its validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity.

Methods: The profile was translated into Persian as DSP-P. Face, known-groups, and concurrent validities, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, sensitivity, and specificity were determined. 253 patients with dizziness and 59 healthy individuals completed the DSP-P before visiting the otolaryngologist, and the agreement between the proposed diagnoses of DSP-P and the final diagnosis of the otolaryngologist (our gold standard) was examined.

Results: The qualitative face validity of DSP-P was confirmed. There was a significant difference between the mean scores of the study groups (p<0.001). The diagnosis of DSP-P was completely in agreement with the gold standard in 53.3% of cases. Internal consistency was excellent (α≥0.81) for all categories except the persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, superior canal dehiscence and unspecified unsteadiness categories (0.62≤α≤0.69). Generally, the test-retest reliability of the DSP-P scores and diagnoses was very good. The sensitivity of DSP-P was 94.4% for diagnosing benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, 93.5% for Meniere’s disease, 100% for vestibular neuritis, 86.3% for vestibular migraine, and 84.2% for persistent postural-perceptual dizziness.

Conclusion: The DSP-P was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable history-based diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and specificity.