Quantitative analysis of factors contributing to handicap and distress in vertiginous patients: a questionnaire study
Quantitative analysis of factors contributing to handicap and distress in vertiginous patients: a questionnaire study
Statements encapsulating common beliefs, behaviour and difficulties associated with vertigo, derived from in‐depth interviews, were used to construct a Vertigo Handicap Questionnaire (VHQ) which was completed by 84 patients referred for vestibular testing. Factor analysis identified four principal components of handicap in addition to ‘Anxiety and Depression’, (which was isolated prior to analysis): ‘Restriction of Activities’, both physical and social; concern that vertigo would adversely affect social relationships (‘Social Anxieties’); ‘Fear of Vertigo’, both the attacks themselves and their possible significance; and ‘Severity of Attacks’ which was multiplied with frequency of attacks to give a measure of reported physical disability. Multiple regression revealed that Severity x Frequency of attacks contributed to patient distress only indirectly, through its influence on the mediating psychological and behavioural variables. Significant patient benefit may therefore result from counselling or behavioural therapy, whether or not the vertigo itself can be controlled.
anxiety, disability, psychological, vestibular disorder
231-236
Yardley, L.
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
PUTMAN, J.
a58aa6fa-e7fa-429b-990a-ac4a0afa123c
1 June 1992
Yardley, L.
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
PUTMAN, J.
a58aa6fa-e7fa-429b-990a-ac4a0afa123c
Yardley, L. and PUTMAN, J.
(1992)
Quantitative analysis of factors contributing to handicap and distress in vertiginous patients: a questionnaire study.
Clinical Otolaryngology & Allied Sciences, 17 (3), .
(doi:10.1111/j.1365-2273.1992.tb01833.x).
Abstract
Statements encapsulating common beliefs, behaviour and difficulties associated with vertigo, derived from in‐depth interviews, were used to construct a Vertigo Handicap Questionnaire (VHQ) which was completed by 84 patients referred for vestibular testing. Factor analysis identified four principal components of handicap in addition to ‘Anxiety and Depression’, (which was isolated prior to analysis): ‘Restriction of Activities’, both physical and social; concern that vertigo would adversely affect social relationships (‘Social Anxieties’); ‘Fear of Vertigo’, both the attacks themselves and their possible significance; and ‘Severity of Attacks’ which was multiplied with frequency of attacks to give a measure of reported physical disability. Multiple regression revealed that Severity x Frequency of attacks contributed to patient distress only indirectly, through its influence on the mediating psychological and behavioural variables. Significant patient benefit may therefore result from counselling or behavioural therapy, whether or not the vertigo itself can be controlled.
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Published date: 1 June 1992
Keywords:
anxiety, disability, psychological, vestibular disorder
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Local EPrints ID: 509378
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509378
ISSN: 0307-7772
PURE UUID: 0c5425cd-0e24-4a37-88f4-aea9f1ae9b28
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Date deposited: 19 Feb 2026 17:50
Last modified: 20 Feb 2026 02:36
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Author:
J. PUTMAN
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