Birmingham Medical Research Expeditionary Society, The Medical School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
High Alt Med Biol. 2011 Winter;12(4):329-33. doi: 10.1089/ham.2010.1055.
Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is common on ascent to high altitude, with self assessment being the current method used to assess symptoms. The Lake Louise Self-Report Score (LLSRS) and the Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire (ESQ) are widely used and validated. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) may be used as a simpler alternative for AMS assessment. Our aims were to compare a VAS using lines of length 100 mm, for both individual symptoms of AMS and self-assessed overall AMS with both LLSRS and a shortened Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire (ESQc) on ascent to 4392 m. We set out to suggest a specific score as a cut off point for diagnosis of AMS when using the VAS. There were significant positive correlations (p<0.01), between VAS and both LLSRS and ESQc scores for overall AMS and a composite AMS score derived from the individual symptom scores at 4392 m. The sensitivity and specificity of the VAS were calculated as 0.67 and 0.98, respectively, when using the LLSRS as the standard test for comparison, and 0.91 and 0.96, respectively, when using the ESQc for comparison. The cut off point for diagnosis of AMS was calculated to be 22 mm or above when using a VAS for overall AMS or 15 mm or above when using the VAS composite score, when using LLSRS as the comparative test. Our results show significant correlations between the VAS and the LLSRS and ESQc, when assessing AMS at 4392 m. Our study suggests that a VAS could provide a simple alternative method of assessing AMS at high altitude.
急性高原病（AMS）在海拔升高时很常见，目前使用自我评估来评估症状。路易丝湖自我报告评分（LLSRS）和环境症状问卷（ESQ）被广泛使用和验证。视觉模拟量表（VAS）也可作为评估 AMS 的更简单替代方法。我们的目的是比较一种使用长度为 100 毫米的线的 VAS，用于评估个体 AMS 症状和自我评估的整体 AMS，以及在海拔 4392 米时与 LLSRS 和缩短的环境症状问卷（ESQc）的评估。我们旨在提出一个特定的分数作为使用 VAS 诊断 AMS 的临界点。在海拔 4392 米时，VAS 与 LLSRS 和 ESQc 总分以及从个体症状评分得出的综合 AMS 评分之间存在显著的正相关（p<0.01）。当使用 LLSRS 作为标准测试进行比较时，VAS 的灵敏度和特异性分别为 0.67 和 0.98，当使用 ESQc 进行比较时，灵敏度和特异性分别为 0.91 和 0.96。当使用 LLSRS 作为比较测试时，诊断 AMS 的临界点计算为 22 毫米或以上，用于评估整体 AMS 时，或 15 毫米或以上，用于评估 VAS 综合评分时。当评估海拔 4392 米的 AMS 时，我们的研究结果表明 VAS 与 LLSRS 和 ESQc 之间存在显著相关性。我们的研究表明，VAS 可以为高原地区评估 AMS 提供一种简单的替代方法。
