Quality of Large-Scale Video Head Impulse Test Data: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the quality and agreement of video head impulse test (vHIT) data collected by technicians without extensive vestibular training compared with audiologists.

STUDY

DESIGN

Review of data collected at a single time point (year 35) as part of a larger observational cohort study known as the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

SETTING

Birmingham, AL; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; and Oakland, CA.

PARTICIPANTS

464 participants (928 ears) enrolled in the CARDIA Study, 5 novice technicians who completed vHIT, and 3 audiologists with extensive vHIT training.

INTERVENTION: Each technician completed a 2-hour, virtual vHIT training. Technicians recorded average head velocity, gain, presence/absence of saccades, and a data quality rating. Three audiologists with extensive vestibular experience re-reviewed all data for comparison. Data categorized as noisy and/or having saccades were reanalyzed to determine whether data cleaning improved interpretation.

MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: vHIT gain, quality of vHIT results, presence of saccades.

RESULTS

A total of 823 ears (88.7%) were classified as normal, 10 ears (1.1%) were abnormal, 13 ears (1.4%) had low gain without saccades, and 82 ears (9%) had high gain (>1.2). The most frequent artifact was high gain. Data cleaning increased the percentage of saccades and changed the interpretation of eight participants (1.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Novice examiners can administer vHIT with online training and an initial practice period. Additional training on how to identify artifacts and clean data can improve population-based vHIT testing.