Arabic version of situational characteristic questionnaire for diagnosis of visual vertigo syndrome

Abstract

Objectives: To develop and validate an Arabic version of the situational characteristic questionnaire (SCQ), which is the gold standard and easy method in diagnosing visual vertigo syndrome (VV).

Methods: The adapted SCQ was translated according to the cross-cultural adaptation guidelines that included: original author permission, forward and backward translation, Expert committee review, pretesting and final version of the Arabic SCQ. The questionnaire was completed by 100 normal controls (control group) and 100 patients with VV symptoms (VV group). Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were examined. Reliability included internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Validity was examined by evaluating the content and construct validity. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the possible cut-off values.

Results: Indicated good reliability of the Arabic SCQ (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.84 for control group, and = 0.79 for VV group). Test–retest correlation was done on a subgroup of 46 control subjects and 50 VV patients after 1 week. Repeatability of the questionnaire was high for the total Arabic SCQ score using Spearman’s correlation (r = 0.99 and 0.97 for the control and VV groups, respectively). For construct validity, Spearman’s correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations between the Arabic SCQ total score and the modified Arabic visual vestibular mismatch score (r = 0.64, p < .001*). The Arabic SCQ total scores of VV patients were significantly different from normal controls (p < .001* using the Mann-Whitney test).

Conclusion: The Arabic version of the SCQ is a valid and reliable tool for diagnosing VV and for the assessment of severity of symptoms in the Egyptian and Arabic populations. The most sensitive cut-off point of the Arabic SCQ for diagnosing VV was (1.15).

Keywords:

• Arabic
• situational characteristic questionnaire
• visual vertigo

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.