Visual vertigo in children: Adaptation and validation of the visual vertigo analogue scale to European Portuguese

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Visual vertigo occurs after vestibular and non-vestibular pathology and can be present in children and adolescents. It can be assessed by “the Visual Vertigo Analogue Scale” (VVAS), a questionnaire with a Portuguese version for adults. OBJECTIVES: To perform the adaptation to pediatric age and validation of VVAS in European Portuguese. METHODS: This prospective study involved the pediatric adaptation of the Portuguese VVAS, according to recognized guidelines. It was then completed by 30 healthy controls and 18 children with vestibulopathy. Patient caregivers also completed the Dizziness Handicap Inventory - Patient Caregivers (DHI-PC) to further explore the link between questionnaires. Groups were compared for severity of visual vertigo and VVAS test-retest reliability was tested. RESULTS: The VVAS score was significantly higher in vestibular group (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were found between VVAS initial and re-test scores (p = 0.33). VVAS severity scores showed a positive correlation with DHI-PC (r = 0.598, p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: The present Pediatric adaptation of VVAS in European Portuguese shows good psychometric properties for the assessment of visual vertigo. A positive correlation with the DHI-PC was showed, establishing the potential use of both questionnaires in the evaluation of vertigo children.