Visual vertigo analogue scale: An assessment questionnaire for visual vertigo

Abstract

A common symptom for people with vestibulopathy is dizziness induced by dynamic visual input, known as visual vertigo (VV). The goal of this study is to present a novel method to assess VV, using a nine-item analog scale. The subjects rated the intensity of their dizziness on each item of the Visual Vertigo Analogue Scale (VVAS), which represented a daily situation typically inducing VV. The questionnaire was completed by participants with vestibulopathy (n = 102) and by subjects receiving out-patient orthopaedic physiotherapy (n = 102). The dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) was also completed by the vestibulopathic group. The Cronbach's Alpha index indicated the VVAS is internally consistent and reliable (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.94). The study also found that the VVAS severity scores from vestibular and a non-vestibular population were significantly different (Wilcoxon-Mann Whitney test p < 0.0001). Spearman correlation analysis conducted between DHI and VVAS scores for the clients with vestibulopathy showed positive moderate correlations between the VVAS score and the total DHI score (r = 0.67, p < 0.0001). This study showed that the VVAS scale may be useful in providing a quantitative evaluation scale of visual vertigo.