Four Ways to Be Dizzy: When Physiology Fails to Explain Disability Insights From the UVIS International Survey (UVIS)

UVIS - UCLouvain Vertigo International Survey

The aim of this international study is to better understand how vestibular disorders affect daily life, including physical balance, vision and movement tolerance, emotional wellbeing, and cognitive functioning. Vestibular disorders are common but often difficult to diagnose because symptoms vary widely from one patient to another. To improve clinical care, we need large-scale information on the real-world experience of patients across different countries and clinical settings.

The UCLouvain Vertigo International Survey (UVIS) collects standardized information from adults with confirmed vestibular disorders, including questionnaires about dizziness-related handicap, emotional symptoms, and cognitive-vestibular complaints. Ear-nose-throat (ENT) specialists also provide routine clinical test results, such as caloric testing, vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP and oVEMP), video head impulse tests (vHIT), and posturography. By combining these data, the study aims to identify different patient profiles and to examine how subjective symptoms relate to the physiological function of the vestibular system.

Participants take part during their routine clinical visit. They complete short questionnaires (on dizziness, anxiety, depression, cognitive symptoms, and daily functioning), and their ENT specialist encodes the results of the vestibular tests already performed as part of their usual care. No additional medical tests are required for the study.

By comparing data from several centers in Belgium, France, and the United States, this project seeks to provide a more complete picture of vestibular disorders worldwide and to support the development of better diagnostic tools and more personalized rehabilitation strategies.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Vestibular Disease; Vestibular Dysfunction

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 250

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Brussels, Belgium
    • Cliniques Universitaires Saint-luc
• France
  • Marseille, France
    • Hôpital Européen Marseille
• United States
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
      • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Vestibular loss diagnosed by senior ENT doctors

Description

For patients :

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 18 and 90 years old.
• Vestibular loss diagnosed by senior ENT doctors

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous neurological disorders (stroke, dementia, …)
• Current medication interfering with the testing (reducing reaction time).
• Visual difficulties interfering with the testing (Visual field reduction,…)
• Age below 18 years old.

For healthy controls :

Inclusion criteria :

- Age between 18 and 90 years old.

Exclusion criteria:

• Previous neurological disorders (stroke, dementia, …)
• Current medication interfering with the testing (reducing reaction time)
• Visual difficulties interfering with the testing (Visual field reduction,…)
• Vertigo or balance complains or an history of previous vestibular disorder.
• Age below 18 years old.
• Not being able to understand the consigns of the task.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Vestibular; Patients with vestibular loss diagnosed by senior ENT doctors with the gold standard ENT measures (caloric testing, head impulse test and/or vestibular evoked myogenic potential, ocular and cervical)
Healthy controls; People with no vestibular loss

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assessment of dizziness-related handicap	DHI - Dizziness Handicap Inventory (25 items; physical, functional, emotional subscales). Scores 0-100. Higher scores = greater handicap.	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.
Assessment of emotional symptoms	HADS - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (14 items; Anxiety and Depression subscales). Scores 0-21 per subscale. Higher scores = more symptoms	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.
Assessment of cognitive-vestibular complaints	NVI - Neuropsychological Vertigo Inventory (22 items assessing cognitive-vestibular symptoms: attention, memory, spatial orientation, visuospatial abilities). Higher scores = more complaints	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Vestibular Physiological Function - canal paresis percentage	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.
Vestibular Physiological Function - cVEMP and oVEMP	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.
Vestibular Physiological Function - video Head Impulse Test	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.
Vestibular Physiological Function - Posturography	Through the entire study, approximately 36 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Université Catholique de Louvain

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 10, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 3, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): August 3, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 1, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 16, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): December 22, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 22, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 16, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Ear Diseases; Labyrinth Diseases; Vestibular Diseases
• Other Study ID Numbers: ABMA-3

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No