Reliability And Utility of A Visual Analog Scale for The Assessment of Acute Mountain Sickness

Abstract

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a common condition that affects people that ascend too rapidly to high altitude. It is typically assessed with the Lake Louise AMS Self-report Score (LLSelf) that uses a categorical numeric rating scale to answer five questions addressing AMS-related symptoms, such as headache. A 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) is commonly used to assess subjective phenomena such as pain, but this scale has never been used for the self-assessment of AMS. The purpose of this study was to compare a VAS score to the total LLSelf and to evaluate the test-retest and interrater reliability of the VAS when used as an assessment of AMS. Participants (N = 356) completed both the LLSelf and the VAS on the summit of Mt. Whitney (4419 m). There was a significant relationship (r = 0.65, p < 0.01) between the LLSelf (2.8 +/- 2.0, mean +/- SD) and the VAS (14.4 +/- 14.1 mm). Fifty-seven participants were randomly selected for reliability testing of the VAS. Both test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.996, 95% CI = 0.992 to 0.998) and interrater reliability (ICC = 1.000, 95% CI = 0.999 to 1.000) were high. The mean difference in the VAS score between tests was <1 mm, as was the difference between raters. These results demonstrate excellent reliability for the VAS as an assessment of AMS.

Acute altitude illnesses

“…17 A simple visual analogue score has also been reported to be a simple effective measure of the severity of acute mountain sickness. 18 Symptoms of acute mountain sickness are commonly misattributed to viral infection, alcohol hangover, exhaustion, or dehydration. However, fever is often absent in acute mountain sickness.…”

Effect of early ambulation after transfemoral cardiac catheterization in Hong Kong: A single-blinded randomized controlled trial

“…The VAS is a self-report device used extensively to measure pain (18) and it has been reported to be a valid and reliable measure of pain intensity (19)(20)(21)(22). The VAS consists of a 100 mm long line with anchors indicating the extremes of pain.…”

“…About 20% of the participants had history of back pain before cardiac catheterization. The median duration of the cardiac catheterization procedure were respectively 20 (inter-quartile range: [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Data are presented as frequency (%) and median interquartile range *Pearson Chi-square test and independent samples t-test Cardiac catheterization procedure was first log-transformed before subjected to t-test Table 1. Background characteristics of the study sample (n=137)…”

Oximetry Fails to Predict Acute Mountain Sickness or Summit Success During a Rapid Ascent to 5640 Meters

“…2 Several scales have been developed and used to make assessments of AMS, most notably the Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire, 3 the Lake Louise Self-Assessment Scale (LLSS), 1 and a visual analog scale (VAS). 4 However, all of these scales are subjective and rely on the climber or patient making an accurate and truthful self-evaluation of his or her symptoms. Thus, an objective and quantifiable measurement to predict impending AMS during an expedition would be extremely valuable to the safety and success of climbers.…”