title: Metric properties of the Spanish version of the Lake Louise Acute Mountain Sickness Questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the metric properties of the Lake Louise Acute Mountain Sickness (LLAMSQ) five-item questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  At the end of the course "Neuroscience in pre-Columbian Andean cultures" (Peru, 2009), the participants answered the self-reported version of the LLAMSQ. The following psychometric attributes were explored: acceptability (observed versus possible scores; floor and ceiling effects), scaling assumptions (item-total correlation > 0.30), internal consistency (Cronbach́s alpha), precision (standard error of measurement), and convergent and discriminative validity. Differences in mean score of LLAMSQ between symptomatic acute mountain sickness subjects and asymptomatic ones were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participants stayed for days at Cuzco (3,400 meters above sea level, MASL), Sacred valley (2,850 MASL) and Machu Picchu (2,450 MASL). Seventy people (60% males; mean age 50±8 years; 88.6% neurologists) were included in the study. LLAMSQ mean score was 3.36±2.02 (median 3; skewness 0.61). Ceiling and floor effects were 7.3% and 1.4%, respectively. Cronbach́s alpha was 0.61, and standard error of measurement 1.26. LLAMSQ mean score significantly correlated (r=0.41, P=.002) with physical items (ataxia, dyspnoea, tremor, mental symptoms). LLAMSQ mean scores were significantly higher (worse) in those subjects who presented with acute sickness mountain (5.8 vs 3.0; Mann-Whitney, P<.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Metric properties of the LLASMQ Spanish version are adequate. This questionnaire seems to be useful in the early detection of high-altitude illness.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Virgen de la Luz, Cuenca, Spain. fjcarod-artal@hotmail.com
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Carod-Artal
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ezpeleta Echávarri
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Guerrero Peral
mesh_terms: D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009488:Neurosciences; D010820:Physicians; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*