Discussion of the dizziness handicap inventory

Abstract

Purpose: A review of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). Number of studies: Seventy-four studies. Materials/methods: Articles published between January 1990 and May 2012 were identified by searches in PubMed electronic database. Of the 227 articles meeting the inclusion criteria 74 were reviewed. These articles are discussed under nine topics; Reliability, validity and internal consistency of the original version of DHI, relationship between vestibular/balance tests and DHI, association between DHI and the other scales related to balance impairments, exploratory factor analysis of the DHI, screening version of DHI, translations of DHI into other languages, the role of DHI to assess the success of the treatment of balance disorder, DHI results in various vestibular disorders, general characteristics of DHI in patients with balance impairment. Conclusions: Self reported measures represent unique pieces of the information important for the management of dizzy patients. DHI is the most widely used self reported measurement of patients with dizziness. It has been translated into fourteen languages, so it is widely accepted.

Comparison of Suppression Head Impulse and Conventional Head Impulse Test Protocols

“…The saccade amplitudes of anticompensatory saccades in the SHIMP are generally larger than those of compensatory saccades in the HIMP, so it might be expected that it will be easier to detect changes in anticompensatory saccades and thereby detect an abnormal VOR, with the SHIMP. A possible explanation for our results is that the appearance of compensatory saccades in the HIMP is not always straightforward [20,21]. Moreover, some studies using either the search coil HIT or the HIMP protocol of the vHIT failed to find a significant association between prolonged vestibular neuritis symptoms and the VOR during high-velocity head movement [22,23].…”

A systematic review of patient‐reported measures associated with vestibular dysfunction

“…17,42 The DHI has been tested for an association with an extensive list of other dizziness scales 24,26 related to balance impairments, 43,44 vestibular tests, 45 and balance tests. 42,46,47 There are many studies that show the effect of treatment (including VR) in patients with vestibular dysfunction. 42,43,[48][49][50][51][52] The DHI was shown to be more responsive to recovery after VR than the quality of life measure 36-Item Short Form Survey to monitor outcomes following unilateral/bilateral vestibular dysfunction.…”

“…42,46,47 There are many studies that show the effect of treatment (including VR) in patients with vestibular dysfunction. 42,43,[48][49][50][51][52] The DHI was shown to be more responsive to recovery after VR than the quality of life measure 36-Item Short Form Survey to monitor outcomes following unilateral/bilateral vestibular dysfunction. 1 Additionally, the DHI has been used with specific vestibular diagnostic groups, including vestibular 53,54 benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, 48,55 peripheral unilateral vestibular dysfunction, 56 vestibular neuritis, 45,57 bilateral vestibular loss, 58 and migraine.…”

“…59 A review of the DHI completed in 2013 summarizes the DHI's utilization in clinical studies. 42 A study in 2013 by Saxena and Prabhakar found the DHI score to be a useful tool for the prediction of BPPV. They found a statistically significant association of DHI scores 50 with the diagnosis of BPPV (P < .01).…”

“…1,61 Nevertheless, studies utilizing the DHI as an outcome measure for VR indicate that the DHI is responsive to change postintervention. 1,42,43,[48][49][50][51][52] The VADL has been shown to be more sensitive for subjects with less independence compared to the DHI. 22,62 A follow-up study to the original VADL validation study addressed the application of the VADL and reported only moderate correlations with the DHI (r 5 0.66, P < .001).…”