Translation and Validation of the Self Administering Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale-Hindi Version (VADL-H)

Abstract

Introduction: Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale (VADL) is a useful questionnaire which is used to assess individuals having vertigo/dizziness and mainly focuses on the functionality issues that occurs in an individual’s daily routine activities. Aim: The current study's aim was Translation and Validation of the self-administering Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale - Hindi version (VADL-H). Methods: The study was conducted in 3 different phases: Phase I: Translation of VADL questionnaire to Hindi; Phase 2: Content validation of translated VADL (Hindi version); Phase 3: Translated and validated VADL-H was administered participants with vertigo/dizziness who were native Hindi speakers using a Google form through WhatsApp, and other social media platforms. Initially final VADL-H questionnaire was administered on 30 participants with dizziness and they were encouraged to assess each question on 11-point scale depending on the severity of vertigo/dizziness in various scenarios. Later to examine the test-retest mean score of the translated VADL questionnaire, the same procedure was followed after 15 days of the initial test on 50% of the participants. Results: The results of the study indicated that the severity of dizziness/vertigo ranged from 3.44 to 4.14 (total scores ranged from 1 to 11) for the three segment of VADL-H questionnaire in individuals diagnosed with different vestibular dysfunctions. Comparatively, the performance of the participants was better with Functional subscale (3.44) followed by instrumental subscale (3.80) and ambulation subscale (4.14). The Test-retest mean score of the VADL-H questionnaire indicated strong correlation for all 3 subscales (Functional subscale, Fα = 0.998, Ambulation subscale, Aα = 0.982 and instrumental subscale, Iα = 0.994) and indicates that the accuracy of the translated questionnaire (VADL-H) is found to be good and reliable. Conclusions: The VADL-H can be used to assess various problems an individual is facing in day to day activities due to vestibular problems and provides appropriate guidance to patients suffering from giddiness to ensure their overall well-being and helps in evaluating post treatment changes.