Work

Psychometric Evaluation of the Tinnitus Severity Short Form Measure in Veterans and Civilians

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: PURPOSE: Tinnitus is the perception of sound that cannot be attributed to an external source, which can be distressing. There are several measures of tinnitus distress available; however, these measures are difficult to use in practice. The Tinnitus Severity Short Form (TS-SF) was developed to be a brief, pragmatic measure. However, it is presently unclear whether the measure may be invariant across groups. METHOD: = 277) completed the TS-SF. Confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance analyses were run in Mplus. RESULTS: A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated acceptable relative fit indices for a bifactor model. The TS-SF demonstrated measurement invariance at the configural, metric, scalar, and residual levels between veterans and civilians. Post hoc testing indicated that a vast majority of the variance of the bifactor model can be attributed to the substantive distress score, justifying unifactorial scoring. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that the TS-SF is a useful, brief measure of tinnitus distress that may be used to connect individuals to appropriate treatments.

Source: American Journal of Audiology

DOI: 10.1044/2025_aja-25-00118

Authors: Emma R. Dear, Chavez R. Rodriguez, Jay F. Piccirillo, Thomas L. Rodebaugh

Institutions: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Purdue University West Lafayette, Washington University in St. Louis

Language: English

Topic: Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics

Subfield: Sensory Systems

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders