Menu
Skip to main content
Search the Resource Center
Table of Contents

Vertigo Symptom Scale – Short Form (VSS-SF) Online Calculator

Dizziness can feel different for each person. Some people feel spinning, unsteady, sick, faint, or short of breath. The VSS-SF asks how often these symptoms have happened over the past month. Your score does not diagnose the cause of dizziness, but it can help show how often symptoms are happening and guide a conversation with a healthcare provider.

Why use the VSS-SF?

The Vertigo Symptom Scale – Short Form (VSS-SF) helps clinicians understand how often a patient is experiencing dizziness-related symptoms. It includes symptoms related to vertigo, balance, nausea, autonomic symptoms, and anxiety-like body symptoms, such as feeling faint, short of breath, or having a racing heart. The VSS-SF does not diagnose the cause of dizziness, but it can provide useful context when symptoms are frequent, mixed, or difficult to describe. It can also be used to track patient-reported change over time.

Common Clinical Uses

Clinicians may use the VSS-SF to:

  • Assess how often dizziness-related symptoms are happening

  • Identify patterns across vertigo, balance, nausea, and body-based anxiety symptoms

  • Support baseline documentation and care planning

  • Guide vestibular rehabilitation goals

  • Measure patient-reported change over time

  • Document symptom progress during treatment

VSS-SF Online Calculator

How often in the past month have you experienced one or more of the following symptoms? Select one answer for each item.

A feeling that either you, or things around you, are spinning or moving, lasting less than 20 minutes
Hot or cold spells
Nausea (feeling sick), vomiting
A feeling that either you, or things around you, are spinning or moving, lasting more than 20 minutes
Heart pounding or fluttering
A feeling of being dizzy, disoriented or "swimmy", lasting all day
Headache, or feeling of pressure in the head
Unable to stand or walk properly without support, veering or staggering to one side
Difficulty breathing, been short of breath
Feeling unsteady, about to loose balance, lasting more than 20 minutes
Excessive sweating
Feeling faint, about to black out
Feeling unsteady, about to loose balance, lasting less than 20 minutes
Pains in the heart or chest region
A feeling of being dizzy, disoriented or "swimmy", lasting less than 20 minutes
Complete all 15 questions to view the score.
Literature and scoring references
  1. Yardley L, Masson E, Verschuur C, Haacke N, Luxon L. Symptoms, anxiety and handicap in dizzy patients: development of the Vertigo Symptom Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 1992;36(8):731–741.
  2. Wilhelmsen K, Strand LI, Nordahl SHG, Eide GE, Ljunggren AE. Psychometric properties of the Vertigo Symptom Scale – Short Form. BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders. 2008;8:2.
  3. Kondo M, Kiyomizu K, Goto F, et al. Analysis of vestibular-balance symptoms according to symptom duration: dimensionality of the Vertigo Symptom Scale-short form. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. 2015;13:4.

Scoring: each item is scored 0–4. Total score ranges from 0–60. The Vestibular-balance subscale uses items 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15, and the Autonomic-anxiety subscale uses items 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 14.

Looking for a printable version?

Our design team has made improvements to the visual design of the standard questionnaire and we are providing this free of charge. This information is relevant for clinicians looking to improve their understanding of the impact that dizziness has had on your daily activities. Access the printable PDF version of the Vertigo Symptom Scale – Short Form (VSS-SF).