35 Questionnaires in otology: a systematic mapping review 2 This is supported by the outcome of our study. Out of the multiple complaints group, 9 were disease-specific questionnaires compared to 4 general otology questionnaires. Our study design did not limit our search results to a particular disease. Therefore, it enabled us to identify questionnaires that do not pertain to a specific disease or patient group (e.g., tinnitus patients), hence the identification of the 4 general otology questionnaires. Two of these questionnaires were designed as screening instruments, assessing the need for referral to an otologist for individuals in the general population. The other 2 questionnaires are the Cambridge Otology Quality of Life Questionnaire (COQOL)15, being a questionnaire designed to quantify the quality of life of patients attending otology clinics, and the Otology Questionnaire Amsterdam (OQUA)8. The OQUA is a generic otology questionnaire designed to evaluate the severity of ear complaints and their impact on patients’ lives. It possesses the unique quality that it can be used in ear patients and is designed to measure the change of symptoms during the course of the disease or treatment. Tinnitus A wide array of tinnitus questionnaires exist designed to capture all domains that might be negatively affected by tinnitus in everyday life. Systematic reviews on tinnitus questionnaires usually focus on measures of health related quality of life, reporting results limited to only the major self-report questionnaires.16-20 All these reviews on tinnitus questionnaires present additional information on questionnaire characteristics (usually: number of items, score range, and (sub)scales)) or even some psychometric characteristics (e.g., internal consistency, test-retest reliability). From these reviews, all except two questionnaires were identified in our search. In addition to the questionnaires identified in these 5 review studies, we have identified an additional 12 tinnitus questionnaires. Vertigo Reviews on vertigo in vestibular disease identified a total 15 questionnaires.21,22 All questionnaires were encountered in our results. Most vertigo questionnaires that we have identified were qualified as non-specific vertigo questionnaires (n=14). These questionnaires were non-disease-specific, nor did they adhere to a specific situation in which vertigo is provoked. Disease specific questionnaires were most often specific for BPPV. This is consistent with BPPV as the primary cause of (vestibular) vertigo. We have consulted two bibliographic databases for our search, which is considered a minimum. Nonetheless, a total number of 13,345 unique records were reviewed. This was the maximum capacity for our resources and is the highest number we have encountered during literature search in any systematic review in this field.
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