[Disability: a proposal for an anamnestic questionnaire in the evaluation of the degree of disability caused by disorders of equilibrium].

: Correct identification and evaluation of balance disorders and an assessment of their repercussions on a patient's life are common problems faced by the otoneurologist. These symptoms may not infrequently have a chronic or recurrent course and can lead to in restrictions in the patient's everyday life and even have consequences for the patient' mental health. In the doctor-patient relationship anamnesis is of crucial importance in diagnosis as well as in establishing a relationship of professional confidence with the patient which may influence the outcome of the treatment. An awareness of those situations of daily life which bring about or aggravate the symptoms provides the doctor with valuable information in formulating an etiopathogenetic hypothesis. This observation led us to design the anamnestic self-questionnaire "Disability" whose purpose is to describe the type of disability or impairment to daily life suffered by the patient as a result of the pathology, while at the some time measuring their effects. Our history questionnaire has confirmed the importance of careful history in assessing balance disorders, has highlighted the striking extent of disability and impairment caused by these disorders, and has enabled us to identify the chief features of all pathologies encountered in the specific field of balance disorders. The questionnaire enables us, in particular, to highlight the interference of extra-vestibular factors (muscle-strain, states of irritation, phobias, drugs, dietary factors, etc.). The use of this questionnaire has proved to be of great assistance, therefore, in carrying out routine clinical diagnosis, in the absence of complex technical equipment. Moreover, it constitutes a valuable method in monitoring the outcome of the therapy, or the natural course of the balance disorders.