Subject(s)
Embolism, Air/diagnostic imaging , Enterocolitis, Necrotizing/complications , Intracranial Embolism/diagnostic imaging , Echocardiography , Embolism, Air/diagnosis , Embolism, Air/etiology , Heart Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Heart Diseases/etiology , Humans , Infant , Intracranial Embolism/diagnosis , Intracranial Embolism/etiologyABSTRACT
A prototype self-report measure of vestibular rehabilitation outcome is described in a previous paper. The objectives of the present work were to identify the most useful items and assess their psychometric properties. Stage 1: One hundred fifty-five participants completed a prototype 36-item Vestibular Rehabilitation Benefit Questionnaire (VRBQ). Statistical analysis demonstrated its subscale structure and identified redundant items. Stage 2: One hundred twenty-four participants completed a refined 22-item VRBQ and three established questionnaires (Dizziness Handicap Inventory, DHI; Vertigo Symptom Scale short form, VSS-sf; Medical Outcomes Study short form 36, SF-36) in a longitudinal study. Statistical analysis revealed four internally consistent subscales of the VRBQ: Dizziness, Anxiety, Motion-Provoked Dizziness, and Quality of Life. Correlations with the DHI, VSS-sf, and SF-36 support the validity of the VRBQ, and effect size estimates suggest that the VRBQ is more responsive than comparable questionnaires. Twenty participants completed the VRBQ twice in a 24-hour period, indicating excellent test-retest reliability. The VRBQ appears to be a concise and psychometrically robust questionnaire that addresses the main aspects of dizziness impact.
Subject(s)
Disability Evaluation , Dizziness/etiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Vestibular Diseases/diagnosis , Vestibular Diseases/rehabilitation , Activities of Daily Living , Anxiety/etiology , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Predictive Value of Tests , Psychometrics , Quality of Life , Reproducibility of Results , Treatment Outcome , United Kingdom , Vertigo/etiology , Vestibular Diseases/complicationsABSTRACT
Research suggests that Vestibular Rehabilitation (VR) is an effective treatment for dizziness, but there is currently no measure specifically designed to assess treatment outcome. A review of existing self-report measures of dizziness indicates that no measure has been designed for longitudinal application and all suffer from limitations which restrict their usefulness in measuring VR outcome. A need for a psychometrically robust patient-oriented measure of quality of life benefit from VR is identified. The aim of the present study was to explore dimensions relevant to VR with a view to developing a measure of outcome. Eighteen adults receiving VR participated in interviews about the quality of life impact of dizziness. Qualitative analysis revealed 64 themes describing self-perceived quality of life impact. Themes were developed into potential questionnaire items and 35 were selected to represent the quality of life impact of dizziness in a prototype questionnaire. A quarter of items in the prototype questionnaire refer to issues not addressed by existing measures; the remaining items draw together issues covered by the range of questionnaires currently in use.
