VISA-A (sedentary) Scale
Introduction[edit | edit source]
The Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) questionnaire is one of the most widely used PROMs for patients with Achilles tendinopathy (AT), covering the domains of symptoms, function and physical activity. However, the VISA-A was developed with an athletic population and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire in sedentary individuals are unknown.1
VISA-A(sedentary) scale is an appropriate outcome recommended for sedentary patients with AT. About 35% of patients with AT describes their symptoms related to sport activities, while majority of patients with AT are runners.
Objective[edit | edit source]
The VISA A (sedentary) aims to evaluate a modified version of the VISA-A that can be used in sedentary patients with AT. The VISA-A (sedentary), was developed to measure the severity of AT using the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) recommendations.
Intended population[edit | edit source]
- Patients were included if they were aged 18 years or older with a clinical diagnosis of AT but did not participate in Achilles tendon loading sports.
Method of Use[edit | edit source]
The construct to be measured by the VISA-A (sedentary) was the severity of AT in sedentary patients, with eight questions covering symptoms and their impact on activity. The questionnaire contains eight questions, covering three necessary domains: 1) pain, 2) functional status, and 3) activity (= three significant domains of dysfunction):
- Questions 1-3 are related to pain. (in this questionnaire, the term "pain" refers specifically to pain in the Achilles tendon region).
- Questions 4-6 are related to function.
- Questions 7-8 are related to activity.
- Question 8 actually contains two questions: a) pain with activity, and b) duration of activity.
- The first seven questions have a score out of 10, and question 8 scores a maximum of 30.
- The first six questions use a VAS so that the patient may report the magnitude of a continuum of subjective symptoms. The final two questions used a categorical rating scale
Answering question 8 is limited to A,B or C and relates to the reality of the patient. The patient automatically loses at least 10 of 20 points if he or she has pain during sports activity.
The structure and item weighting remained consistent with the VISA-A with lower scores indicating greater severity of AT
