Measuring outcome from Vestibular Rehabilitation, Part I: Qualitative development of a new self-report measure

Int J Audiol. 2008 Apr;47(4):169-77. doi: 10.1080/14992020701843129.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Dizziness* / diagnosis
  • Dizziness* / epidemiology
  • Dizziness* / rehabilitation
  • Equipment Design
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Psychometrics
  • Quality of Life / psychology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Therapy, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation
  • Treatment Outcome