Nizamettin Burak AVCI, İlknur TAŞDEMİR GÜRŞEN
Journal of Academic Research in Medicine - 2026;16(2):91-97
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the screening for anxiety and depression in tinnitus-hyperacusis-misophonia (SAD-T) in individuals with tinnitus. Methods: The SAD-T has four items and was translated into Turkish using the "back-translation" method. The study included 105 individuals (33 M, 72 F) with subjective tinnitus whose mean age was 31.87+/-15.16 (min: 20, max: 65). Cronbach's alpha was used to measure internal consistency, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to measure test-retest reliability in a subgroup of thirty participants, based on repeated assessments over two weeks. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity. The depression anxiety stress scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to evaluate the concurrent validity of the Turkish version of SAD-T (SAD-T-TR). Additionally, the DASS-21 subscale scores were used to categorize participants into anxiety-positive and anxiety-negative, and depression-positive and depression-negative groups to assess discriminant validity. Results: Every item had a corrected item-total correlation coefficient higher than 0.30. The scale demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability (ICC=0.945) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.879). The model demonstrated an acceptable fit [ chi² (1)=3.046, p=0.081; comparative fit index=0.991; Tucker-Lewis index=0.945; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.140], supporting a unidimensional structure despite an inflated RMSEA due to low degrees of freedom (df=1). SAD-T-TR scores were moderately positively correlated with DASS-21 scores (r=0.680 for total, r=0.670 for depression, r=0.586 for anxiety, r=0.639 for stress, p<0.001). SAD-T-TR scores were significantly higher in participants with anxiety and depression than in those without these conditions (p<0.001). Conclusion: SAD-T-TR is a valid and reliable tool for screening depression and anxiety in individuals with tinnitus. The scale may be a helpful tool for clinical practice and research in tinnitus populations because it is brief and simple to administer.
