Researchers have developed an adaptive shorter form of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) for slight and mild tinnitus to facilitate online tinnitus treatment triage.
They said their abbreviated questionnaire demonstrated clinically relevant accuracy while reducing the response burden for less severe cases.
The full 25-item THI could increase patient burden, highlighting the need for a shorter, effective alternative, the Dutch researchers said.
A genetic algorithm selected THI items. A genetic algorithm is a computer science method that mimics natural selection and evolution to find high-quality solutions for complex optimisation and search problems.
It was trained on Dutch THI datasets and tuned to minimise the difference between projected and full THI-25 scores below the mild threshold.
The algorithm 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 and over originated from two Dutch hospitals and consented to use of their data for research.
The analysis produced the THI-12/8/5 model, with 12 items identifying “slight” tinnitus and an additional eight items for “mild” cases.
Patients with higher predicted burdens completed the full 25-item THI.
“The adaptive THI-12/8/5 is a concise and effective self-report tool for online tinnitus treatment triage,” the researchers reported in the International Journal of Audiology on 15 December 2025.
“It improves efficiency, reduces patient burden, and contributes to the advancement of abbreviated questionnaires using genetic algorithm models.”
The researchers were ENT doctors Dr Henk Blom and Dr Carlijn Holland, consultant Niels Sprangers, data scientist Ries Meijssen and psychologist/consultant Ms Lisa Verheul.
