The Vertigo Symptom Scale short form, or VSS-SF, counts how often vertigo, balance and related symptoms happened in the past month. It was published by Yardley and colleagues in 1992. It is often used as a before-and-after measure for vestibular rehabilitation exercises.
What it asks
There are 15 questions about symptoms such as:
- A feeling that things are spinning or moving around you, lasting less than 2 minutes, or more than 20 minutes.
- Feeling unsteady or about to lose your balance.
- Pressure in one or both ears, or hearing loss.
- Nausea, a pounding heart, sweating, hot or cold spells, or feeling tense.
For each one you say how often it happened during the past month: Never, A few times, Several times, Quite often or Very often.
How it is scored
- Answers score from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very often).
- The total runs from 0 to 60. Lower is better.
VertigoMe shows a band with your score:
- Low: 0 to 11
- Moderate: 12 to 23
- High: 24 to 60
It also splits your score into two parts:
- Vertigo & balance: the spinning, unsteadiness and ear symptoms.
- Autonomic & anxiety: symptoms such as nausea, sweating, a pounding heart or feeling tense.
Seeing the two parts separately can help you and your clinician understand what is driving your symptoms.
What the score is for
The VSS-SF does not diagnose anything. Taken monthly, it shows whether symptoms are becoming less frequent, for example while you do balance exercises.
The wording in VertigoMe is lightly adapted for a phone screen. The scoring matches the published questionnaire.
When to see a doctor
See your GP, ENT or neurologist if your symptoms are new, getting worse, or come with sudden hearing loss, a severe headache, double vision, slurred speech, weakness or numbness. For sudden symptoms like these, seek urgent care.
