The vestibular activities and participation measure and vestibular disorders

Abstract

Vestibular disorders are commonly reported health conditions that lead to debilitating consequences. Activity limitations and participation restrictions are the main disabling consequences of vestibular disorders. Measuring activities and participation in people with vestibular disorders has been a challenge due to the absence of specialized outcome measures that quantify activities and participation based on a standardized framework such as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The Vestibular Activities and Participation (VAP) questionnaire was developed to quantify activity limitations and participation restrictions in people with balance and vestibular disorders. Of the 34 items included in the VAP, 29 (85%) of the items had at least 25% or more of the respondents report that they had moderate to severe difficulty and 10 items had 40% or more of the participants report that they had difficulty with the activity or participation item. The psychometric properties of the VAP were examined and demonstrated very good reliability and validity in persons with balance and vestibular dysfunction and may be helpful in identifying activity and participation limitations.

Keywords: ICF; activities and participation; disability; measures; vestibular.