Motion sickness susceptibility to optokinetic rotation correlates to past history of motion sickness.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated correlations between motion sickness susceptibility to a rotating optokinetic drum and past history of motion sickness.


METHODS
There were 49 subjects who filled out a questionnaire on motion sickness history (MSH) who participated in the experiment. Each subject sat in an optokinetic drum for a 12-min baseline and a 12-min drum rotation period. Subjects' motion sickness symptoms (MSS) and electrogastrograms (EGG's) were measured.


RESULTS
There were significant correlations between MSH scores and MSS scores during drum rotation (r = 0.5392, p < 0.001), and between MSH scores and EGG 4-9 cycles per minute (cpm) spectral intensity ratios between drum rotation and baseline periods (r = 0.5320, p < 0.001). Further analysis indicated that the mean MSS scores during the drum rotation period were 11.50 for the top 33% MSH scorers, 4.18 for the middle 34% MSH scorers, and 3.63 for the bottom 33% MSH scorers. The mean EGG 4-9 cpm spectral intensity ratios between drum rotation and baseline periods were 2.62 for the top 33% MSH scorers, 1.44 for the middle 34% MSH scorers, and 1.21 for the bottom 33% MSH scorers.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicated that past history of motion sickness correlates with severity of motion sickness provoked by optokinetic rotation.
Department of Psychology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA.
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Hu
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Glaser
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Hoffman
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Stanton
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Gruber
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009041:Motion Sickness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012399:Rotation