Predicting Individual Susceptibility to Visually Induced Motion Sickness by Questionnaire

Abstract

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Background: The introduction of new visual technologies increases the risk of visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). The aim was to evaluate the 6-item Visually Induced Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (VIMSSQ; also known as the VIMSSQ-short) and other predictors for individual susceptibility to VIMS.Methods: Healthy participants (10M + 20F), mean age 22.9 (SD 5.0) years, viewed a 360° panoramic city scene projected in the visual equivalent to the situation of rotating about an axis tilted from the vertical. The scene rotated at 0.2 Hz (72° s−1), with a ‘wobble’ produced by superimposed 18° tilt on the rotational axis, with a field of view of 83.5°. Exposure was 10 min or until moderate nausea was reported. Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) was the index of VIMS. Predictors/correlates were VIMSSQ, Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ), migraine (scale), syncope, Social & Work Impact of Dizziness (SWID), sleep quality/disturbance, personality (“Big Five” TIPI), a prior multisensory Stepping-Vection test, and vection during exposure.Results: The VIMSSQ had good scale reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.84) and correlated significantly with the SSQ (r = 0.58). Higher MSSQ, migraine, syncope, and SWID also correlated significantly with SSQ. Other variables had no significant relationships with SSQ. Regression models showed that the VIMSSQ predicted 34% of the individual variation of VIMS, increasing to 56% as MSSQ, migraine, syncope, and SWID were incorporated as additional predictors.Conclusion: The VIMSSQ is a useful adjunct to the MSSQ in predicting VIMS. Other predictors included migraine, syncope, and SWID. No significant relationship was observed between vection and VIMS.

Keywords

• motion sickness (simulator sickness)
• migraines
• optokinetic
• vection
• personality
• anxiety