Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, validation, and diagnostic properties of the Arabic version of self-diagnosis questionnaire for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

Ahmad A Alharbi; Mohammad B Alkhodair; Abdulaziz A Albalwi; Hamad S Al Amer; Akram M Abdelrahman; Faisal M Alzuhair; Nawaf N Alsulami; Abrar H Alhazmi

doi:10.3389/fneur.2026.1834087

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, validation, and diagnostic properties of the Arabic version of self-diagnosis questionnaire for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

Front Neurol. 2026 May 13:17:1834087. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2026.1834087. eCollection 2026.

Authors

Ahmad A Alharbi¹, Mohammad B Alkhodair², Abdulaziz A Albalwi¹, Hamad S Al Amer¹, Akram M Abdelrahman², Faisal M Alzuhair², Nawaf N Alsulami³, Abrar H Alhazmi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
² Audiology and Speech Pathology Department, King Salman Armed Forces Hospital, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Languages and Translation, Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ English Language Center, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a common peripheral vestibular disorder, yet no validated Arabic BPPV-specific questionnaire is currently available. To translate and culturally adapt the self-diagnosis BPPV questionnaire into Arabic and to evaluate its psychometric and diagnostic properties. Following cross-cultural adaptation in accordance with established guidelines, 88 participants completed the Arabic version of the questionnaire. Psychometric and diagnostic properties were evaluated. Content validity was excellent (item-level indices ranging from 0.94 to 1.00 for both clarity and relevance, and a scale-level index of 0.98). Convergent validity demonstrated moderate to substantial agreement with positional test results (Cohen's κ values reaching 0.69). Known-groups validity showed fair to excellent discriminative ability (area under the curve values up to 0.84). Internal consistency was moderate for the screening questions (Cronbach's α = 0.720) but lower for subtype determination questions (Cronbach's α = 0.532). The screening component correctly classified (81.8%) participants, with sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, PLR, and NLR of 87.2%, 75.6%, 80.4%, 83.8%, 3.58, and 0.17, respectively. Agreement for the affected ear and BPPV subtype was limited, with many undetermined cases. The Arabic self-diagnosis BPPV questionnaire demonstrated strong content validity, acceptable construct validity, and good diagnostic performance for screening BPPV.

Keywords: Arabic; Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo; diagnostic accuracy; reliability; validity.