Resources for the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment based
Proactive and Personalised Primary Care of the Elderly
DHI
Dizziness Handicap Inventory
Purpose : Self-report of the handicapping effects of dizziness
Admin time : 10 min
User Friendly : High
Administered by : Self-administered. Scored and interpreted by healthcare provider.
Content : 25-item self-report questionnaire.
Answers are graded: 0 (no), 2 (sometimes), 4 (yes)
Item scores are summed. There is a maximum score of 100 (28 points for physical, 36 points for emotional and 36 points for functional) and a minimum score of 0.
Author : Jacobson, G.P., Newman, C.W. (1990)
Copyright : Public Domain
DHI
Dizziness Handicap Inventory - online
Considerations :
The authors found that the frequency of dizziness attacks could not always reflect the perceived severity of the handicap. Patients with fewer dizziness attacks would report that they were severely handicapped and those that had many attacks of dizziness did not necessarily report being severely handicapped. (Jacobson GP, 1990)
Since the DHI is a self-administered questionnaire, quantitative information regarding the instability episode cannot be recorded (Jacobson GP, 1990)
Elderly patients > 65 years have balance affections due to dizziness but a lower level of self perceived handicap and therefore need to treated more cautiously. (Hansson et al., 2005)
This Tool is used in the assessment of Falls
of the Elderly
Back To : Falls
Falls is one of 4 conditions identified as
Geriatric Syndromes
Back To : Geriatric Syndromes