OBJECTIVETo develop a Chinese version of Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS-C) and to examine its reliability and validity.

METHODSThe VSS was translated into Chinese and developed a Chinese version VSS (VSS-C) with the consent of the author. The VSS-C scale was tested in 52 subjects with cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type (CSA group) and 21 healthy subjects (control group). In CSA group VSS-C scale and SF-36 scale investigation was performed for 2 times with 1 week interval, after receiving 1-week orthopedic rehabilitation the patients were evaluated with the VSS-C and SF-36 scale; while subjects in control group received the investigation twice in two weeks. The reliability of the scale was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha method and the correlation between SF-36 scale and the VSS-C were also evaluated for the validity.

RESULTSThe internal consistency of VSS-C was good with Cronbach's alpha of 0.886. Test-retest reliability was also very good with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between two time points, being 0.970 for VSS-C, 0.965 for VSS-AA and 0.992 for the VSS-VER. Regarding concurrent validity, significant low correlation was found between the VSS-AA and VSS-VER (r=0.379, P<0.05). Significant expected correlation was detected between the VSS-C and SF-36 (r>0.5, P<0.05) . The independent-samples t test results (t=6.261, P<0.01) of the CSA group and the control group showed that the VSS-C was able to distinguish healthy people from CSA patients. The paired-samples t test results (t=5.513, P<0.01) showed that VSS-C reflected the improvement of patients after treatment of Chinese massage manipulation.

CONCLUSIONThe Chinese version of VSS has a high comprehensibility, internal consistency and validity, and it can be a useful instrument for evaluation of patients with cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type in China.