A bounded record of selected responses
Understand the published DVMSQ v1.5 total, its screening branch, the excluded fear item and the difference between a raw sum and a diagnosis.
Read raw sums with the exact administered items, missing-answer rules and source version. These are not diagnostic categories, population norms or a measure of treatment success.
One source version, clearly identified
- This website uses the eighteen-item DVMSQ v1.5 form with its initial yes-or-no screening question. The publication also shows an earlier twenty-item pool, while the broader Duke Misophonia Questionnaire has eighty-six items. Those are different versions or instruments. The item numbers and arithmetic on this page follow the three-page v1.5 source form, rather than mixing keys from those other materials.
- The source questions concern reactions to particular bothersome sounds and their impact. This is not a hearing-threshold test, a task that plays trigger sounds or an assessment of someone’s character. English source wording is retained, while Chinese is a new working translation. Neither a familiar instrument name nor a research citation establishes that this web adaptation has been validated.
Seventeen scored items, not eighteen
- After a yes to the initial question, all eighteen source prompts are presented. The fear-or-panic item, number three, is kept as a response record but contributes to neither the total nor either subscore. The total adds items one, two and four through eighteen, with each numerical answer ranging from zero to four. Its possible raw range is zero to sixty-eight.
- For example, choosing two on every scored item gives thirty-four: twenty on the ten symptom items and fourteen on the seven impact items. Changing only the fear response from zero to four leaves all three sums unchanged. That arithmetic does not mean fear is unimportant; it preserves the specific key selected by the source authors.
What an early zero actually means
- The initial question asks about particular sounds that are extremely bothersome even when not loud. Its clarification excludes sounds that bother you only because they are too loud or physically painful. If you answer no, the source ends the questionnaire and assigns a total of zero. The other eighteen items have not been administered; their individual answers and subscores are not invented as zeros.
- This branch is a questionnaire rule, not proof that you have no sound-related difficulty or no need for advice. The website also offers added unsure and decline choices. Those can end without a number, rather than being converted into no. A changed screening answer clears downstream responses so that an earlier completed set cannot silently accompany a different branch.
Missing is not the lowest response
- Every presented item needs an explicit numerical choice or the added unscored option. A numerical zero means the source’s lowest response, such as never or not at all. An unscored answer means you cannot judge, had no relevant opportunity or prefer not to answer. These statements describe different information and are never merged.
- Any unscored answer among the seventeen counted items withholds the total. A complete subscore can still be shown if every item in that subscore is numerical. An unscored fear item alone does not prevent a total, because it is excluded from the key. All eighteen explicit unscored choices can finish without a numerical result, and every public guide remains readable.
A raw sum does not classify you
- The source study investigated the questionnaire’s structure and relationships with other measures. Its authors also described a provisional criteria-based algorithm, while noting that an interview-based diagnostic standard had not been used in that study. This website does not run that algorithm, assume a symptom duration or assign clinical and subclinical labels.
- A total is not a probability of a condition, a percentage of normal hearing or a rank against other people. Two equal totals can combine different reaction and impact responses. The Chinese translation, added skip choices, private treatment of free-text prompts and digital presentation have not been validated together as an equivalent form. Research findings are not transferred as accuracy claims for this page.
Useful context beyond the number
- You might privately notice whether a sound reaction changed a meal, a conversation or an ordinary responsibility, without replaying the sound or trying to provoke a reaction. Describe the actual circumstances rather than trying to raise or lower a total. The questionnaire does not determine what another person intended, who is at fault or which intervention will help.
- If reactions are concerning or interfere with everyday life, an appropriate health professional can discuss the experiences and possible alternatives. Hearing-related pain or loudness difficulty may call for a different assessment, and this check-in cannot separate all possible causes. You do not need to reach a threshold on this page before discussing a difficulty or deciding to stop answering.
Attribution, adaptation and private use
- DVMSQ v1.5 is copyrighted by Zachary J. Williams, 2022, and the source PDF links to CC BY-SA 4.0. The questionnaire adaptation and working translation on this site are offered under the same licence, with the changes identified in the source notice. This is not author endorsement, a clinical service or the unchanged paper form.
- Responses stay in page memory and clear on refresh, language change, leaving or retaking. No personal sound list, bodily description, identity or account is collected. Sharing copies all three public guides without answers or sums. You can read the complete content before responding; optional anonymous action counts require both the page permission and global analytics consent.