The Role of Acceptance in Adjustment to Ménière’s Disease

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The Role of Acceptance in Adjustment to Ménière’s Disease

  • IRAS ID

    125957

  • Contact name

    Sarah Kirby

  • Contact email

    sek@soton.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

  • Research summary

    Research has shown that a higher level of ‘acceptance’ (finding a way to live with illness and have a good quality of life in spite of illness) is related to improved symptoms and quality of life. However, no research has looked at the role of acceptance in Ménière’s disease (an incurable disease of the inner ear, comprising recurrent severe vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss and a sense of fullness in the ear) or other vestibular (inner-ear) disorders, and no suitable questionnaires to carry out such work have yet been developed. Therefore we have developed a questionnaire to measure acceptance of vertigo. The purpose of this study is to a) test whether higher levels of vertigo acceptance are related to better outcomes, and b) establish whether or not many people have low levels of acceptance and are therefore in need of treatment. The study design is a longitudinal questionnaire survey in which we will compare the responses of people with Ménière’s Disease with those of people with other vestibular disorders. Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires at two time points, around 3 months apart. Questionnaires will assess acceptance, adjustment, demographic factors, illness factors and psychological factors.

  • REC name

    East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    13/EM/0464

  • Date of REC Opinion

    13 Jan 2014

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion