An adaptive short form of the tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) applicable for slight and mild tinnitus, facilitating online tinnitus treatment triage.

OBJECTIVE

This study developed an adaptive short form of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to facilitate online tinnitus treatment triage. The full 25-item THI can increase patient burden, highlighting the need for a shorter, effective alternative.

DESIGN

A genetic algorithm (GA) selected THI items in a three-stage scheme (THI-12/8/5). The GA was trained on Dutch THI datasets and tuned to minimise the difference between projected and full THI-25 scores below the mild threshold.

STUDY SAMPLE: The GA was trained on 1,121 questionnaires and validated on a set of 1,181 questionnaires. Cross-validation was performed using a Polish THI-dataset. Participants, aged 18+, originated from two Dutch hospitals and consented to the use of their data for research.

RESULTS

The analysis produced the THI-12/8/5 model, with 12 items identifying "slight" tinnitus and an additional 8 items for "mild" cases. Patients with higher predicted burdens completed the full 25-item THI. The abbreviated questionnaire demonstrated clinically relevant accuracy while reducing the response burden for less severe cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The adaptive THI-12/8/5 is a concise and effective self-report tool for online tinnitus treatment triage. It improves efficiency, reduces patient burden, and contributes to the advancement of abbreviated questionnaires using GA models.