A factor analytic assessment of the English translation of the neuropsychological vertigo inventory(NVI)

Purpose:Vestibular impairments have been associated with a variety of cognitive deficits,most notably deficits in visuo-spatial memory.The Neuropsychological Vertigo Inventory(NVI)was developed to measure self-reported cognitive deficits in patients with dizziness and/or vertigo.The original French language version of the NVI includes 28 items and 7 subscales.The purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether the statistical assessment of an English language version supported the presence of the same cognitive constructs as the French version of the NVI.Method:The English language adaptation of the NVI(referred to here as the NVIe)was administered to an unselected sample of 280 patie nts that were being evaluated for dizziness and/or vertigo in a tertiary care dizziness clinic.The individual item scores from the NVIe were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis(EFA).Results:The results of the data analysis supported a 22-item NVIe consisting of 4 constructs:affective state,temporal memory,spatial memory,visual spatial cognition.Conclusions:The NVIe is a new tool for screening cognitive constructs that may be affected by vestibular impairments.Prior to clinical implementation of the NVIe,additional studies of reliability and convergent validity are needed.

Age predicts the absence of caloric-induced vertigo

Introduction: The absence of vertigo during the caloric test, despite a robust response, has been suggested to represent a central vestibular system phenomenon. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the prevalence of absent caloric-induced vertigo perception in an unselected group of patients and to assess possible predicting variables.Methods: Prospective investigation of 92 unselected patients who underwent caloric testing. Inclusion criteria were that each patient generate a maximum slow phase velocity(maxSPV) > 15 deg/sec and a caloric asymmetry of≤10%. Following the caloric, patients were asked, "Did you have any sensation of motion?"Results: Results showed 75% of patients reported motion with a mean age of 56.51 years compared to a mean age of 66.55 in the 25% of patients reporting an absence of motion. A logistic regression was performed and the overall model was statistically significant accounting for 29% of the variance in caloric perception. The significant predictor variables were patient age and maxSPV of the caloric response. The effect size for both variables was small with an odds ratio of.9 for maxSPV and 1.06 for age.Conclusions: The current investigation showed that both age and maxSPV of the caloric response were significant predictors of vertigo perception during the caloric exam. However, the association between age and caloric perception is not conclusive. Although there is evidence to suggest that these findings represent age-related changes in the central processing of vestibular system stimulation, there are additional unmeasured factors that influence the perception of caloric-induced vertigo.