Comparing questionnaires for the assessment of acute mountain sickness.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_B8CC7CB83281
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
Comparing questionnaires for the assessment of acute mountain sickness.
Journal
High Altitude Medicine and Biology
Author(s)
Dellasanta P., Gaillard S., Loutan L., Kayser B.
ISSN
1527-0297 (Print)
ISSN-L
1527-0297
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2007
Volume
8
Number
3
Pages
184-191
Language
english
Abstract
Exposure to high altitude in nonacclimatized subjects may lead to acute mountain sickness (AMS). AMS is a syndrome characterized by headache accompanied by one or more other symptoms, such as light-headedness, dizziness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, lassitude, and trouble sleeping. Assessing the presence and degree of AMS can be done using self-administered questionnaires like the Lake Louise Questionnaire (LLQ) and the Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire-III (ESQ-III). We compared LLQ and ESQ-III in 266 trekkers of different nationalities trekking over a 5400-m-high pass to assess if the two questionnaires identify the same population as suffering from AMS and to see whether using English questionnaires poses problems for nonnative English-speaking persons. The use of English questionnaires by nonnative English speakers influenced the outcome for some nationalities. For criterion scores yielding similar prevalence of AMS, ESQ-III labeled 20% of cases differently (AMS or no AMS) when compared to LLQ. Correlations between similar individual questions of ESQ-III and LLQ were variable, and there was considerable scatter between ESQ-III and LLQ scores. In conclusion, English questionnaires may pose problems in some international settings, and ESQ-III and LLQ may identify different populations as suffering from AMS.
Keywords
Acute Disease, Adult, Altitude Sickness/classification, Altitude Sickness/diagnosis, Environmental Exposure/adverse effects, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Mountaineering, Questionnaires/classification, Regression Analysis, Reproducibility of Results, Risk Assessment/methods, Sensitivity and Specificity
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
19/09/2013 10:28
Last modification date
20/08/2019 16:26
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