Establishing patient-centered care necessitates proficient communication between medical practitioners and patients. Individuals experiencing tinnitus symptoms encounter significant challenges in effectively communicating their tinnitus related cognitions with physicians. The purpose of this study is to adopt a scale that caters to the indigenous needs for public health challenge being faced by the patients in Pakistan as well as ethnically minoritized Urdu-speaking populations living in the UK, USA and Europe.
This study was divided into two parts: Translation and Adaptation of Tinnitus Cognitions Questionnaire/ Preliminary Study and Main Study. The outcome of preliminary study indicated that the scale had an acceptable internal consistency of Tinnitus Cognitions Questionnaire Urdu version a = 0.75 for the evaluation of tinnitus-related cognitions. Main study was performed by adopting purposive sampling technique based on cross-sectional design; 403 patients having chief complaints of tinnitus and in the age range of 18–87 years (M = 48.27, SD = 16.95) were included in the study. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability and factorial validity of the Tinnitus Cognitions Questionnaire was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis. Statistical analyses were performed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version23) software.
Significant correlations were noted between tinnitus-related cognitions on the translated scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the structure of the scales; an orthogonal rotation (Varimax) was conducted on the data collected from patients. A two-factor solution was obtained for tinnitus cognitions questionnaire; the factors obtained were associated to the subscales of negative and positive cognitions, demonstrating a strong factorial validity in the Pakistani cultural and Urdu-speaking populations.
Findings from this study highlight the implications that psychologists along with audiologists and health-care practitioners should consider psychosocial interventions based on the Urdu-translated Tinnitus Cognitions Questionnaire that provides facilitation to the patients experiencing tinnitus symptoms, as currently there is no specific line of treatment to follow both internationally and in Pakistan. Furthermore, this translated scale can be used as a measure to predict suicidal intents among patients suffering from tinnitus and to reduce the cognitive diagnosis time among indigenous and ethnically minoritized Urdu-speaking population.
