October 2017 | Volume 8 | Article 528 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 10 October 2017 doi: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00528 Frontiers in Neurology | www.frontiersin.org Edited by: Jose Antonio Lopez-Escamez, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Spain Reviewed by: Erin Gillikin Piker, James Madison University, United States Marcos Rossi-Izquierdo, Hospital Universitario Lucus Augusti, Spain *Correspondence: Silvia Colnaghi silvia.colnaghi@unipv.it Specialty section: This article was submitted to Neuro-Otology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Neurology Received: 21 August 2017 Accepted: 22 September 2017 Published: 10 October 2017 Citation: Colnaghi S, Rezzani C, Gnesi M, Manfrin M, Quaglieri S, Nuti D, Mandalà M, Monti MC and Versino M (2017) Validation of the Italian Version of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory, the Situational Vertigo Questionnaire, and the Activity-Specifc Balance Confdence Scale for Peripheral and Central Vestibular Symptoms. Front. Neurol. 8:528. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00528 Validation of the Italian Version of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory, the Situational Vertigo Questionnaire, and the Activity-Specific Balance Confidence Scale for Peripheral and Central Vestibular Symptoms Silvia Colnaghi 1,2 *, Cristiana Rezzani 1 , Marco Gnesi 1 , Marco Manfrin 3,4 , Silvia Quaglieri 3 , Daniele Nuti 5 , Marco Mandalà 5 , Maria Cristina Monti 1 and Maurizio Versino 2,6 1 Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, 2 Laboratory of Neuro-otology and Neuro-ophthalmology, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy, 3 ENT Unit, Policlinico San Matteo Fondazione (IRCCS), Pavia, Italy, 4 Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Paediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, 5 Department of Otology and Skull Base, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, Siena, Italy, 6 Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy Neurophysiological measurements of the vestibular function for diagnosis and follow-up evaluations provide an objective assessment, which, unfortunately, does not necessarily correlate with the patients’ self-feeling. The literature provides many questionnaires to assess the outcome of rehabilitation programs for disequilibrium, but only for the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) is an Italian translation available, validated on a small group of patients suffering from a peripheral acute vertigo. We translated and validated the reliability and validity of the DHI, the Situational Vertigo Questionnaire (SVQ), and the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) in 316 Italian patients complaining of dizziness due either to a peripheral or to a central vestibular deficit, or in whom ves- tibular signs were undetectable by means of instrumental testing or clinical evaluation. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, the homogeneity index, and test–retest reproducibility, confirmed reliability of the Italian version of the three questionnaires. Validity was confirmed by correlation test between questionnaire scores. Correlations with clinical variables suggested that they can be used as a complementary tool for the assessment of vestibular symptoms. In conclusion, the Italian versions of DHI, SVQ, and ABC are reliable and valid questionnaires for assessing the impact of dizziness on the quality of life of Italian patients with peripheral or central vestibular deficit. Keywords: Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Situational Vertigo Questionnaire, Activity-specific Balance Confidence scale, vertigo, vestibular, questionnaires INTRODUCTION Te vestibular system may be afected by various pathologies causing disabling symptoms such as vertigo, nausea, postural instability, and falls. Te life-long prevalence of dizziness in the general population is about 30%, the vestibular system function worsens with aging (1), and one subject out of three aged 65 or more experiences at least one fall per year (2). Te diagnosis