The translation of the Vertigo Symptom Scale into Afrikaans: a pilot study

Dizziness is a common clinical problem that is challenging to diagnose and treat. One of a subset of symptoms that fall under the encompassing term of dizziness is vertigo, which is the subjective experience of hallucination of movement, often associated with vestibular disorders. While dizziness has a broad range of causes, the association between vestibular disturbance, and its attendant vertigo, and anxiety is well established. The Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS) is a questionnaire that assesses aspects of vertigo and vertigo-related anxiety. The aim of this study was twofold. In phase 1, a translation of the VSS into Afrikaans was evaluated using the Delphi consensus technique and two panels of participants. Panel 1 comprised first-language Afrikaans speakers who commented on the language, grammar and vocabulary of the items. Panel 2 were bilingual health care practitioners with either a psychology background or a special interest in vertigo. After two rounds of consultation, consensus was achieved and the final translation of the Afrikaans Vertigo Symptom Scale (AVSS) was agreed upon, as well as a list of Afrikaans words descriptive of vertigo. Phase 2 used a descriptive, correlational design. The aim was to pilot the AVSS with a sample of vertiginous and control participants to establish its ability to differentiate between the two groups and to explore experiences of vertigo and anxiety within the two embedded subscales. The results of the pilot study yielded significant statistical differences (p < 0.001) between the groups on both subscales of the tool. Preliminary results suggest that the AVSS is able to identify patients with vertiginous disturbance and anxiety. The AVSS presents with good sensitivity and specificity as measured by the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Afrikaans is the home language of almost 6 million people in South Africa. The translation of the VSS into Afrikaans presents health care professionals with a tool with which to assess vertigo and vertigo-related anxiety in this population.