Peripheral Vestibular Disorders: Nationwide Evidence From Taiwan

Abstract

Objectives/Hypothesis This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of peripheral vestibular disorders in an Asian population of predominantly Han Chinese ethnicity. Study Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Patients with a peripheral vertigo disorder were identified from the Taiwan Health Insurance Research Database, a database of all medical claims of a randomly selected, population‐representative sample of 2 million enrollees of Taiwan's National Health Insurance system covering over 99% of Taiwan's citizens. In 2016, 59,986 patients received a diagnosis of peripheral vestibular disorders in Taiwan. We calculated the population‐wide prevalence rates of peripheral vestibular disorders in 2016 by sex and age group (20 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 34, 35 to 39, 40 to 44, 45 to 49, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69, and ≥ 70 years) stratified into five urbanization levels. Results The prevalence rate of peripheral vestibular disorders was 2,833.4 per 100,000 population during the year. Prevalence of Meniere's disease was 70.4 per 100,000, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, 446.4, vestibular neuritis 307.2, and other or unspecified peripheral vestibular dizziness, 2,009.5 per 100,000. Prevalence rates steadily increased with age for every type of peripheral vestibular disorder, and were higher among females compared to males. The female‐to‐male gender ratios were 1.84, 1.89, and 1.93 for Meniere's disease, vestibular neuritis, and other peripheral vestibular dizziness, respectively. Counties with the lowest urbanization level had the highest prevalence rates of all types of peripheral vestibular disorders except vestibular neuritis. Conclusions Results showed that peripheral vestibular disorders are common in Taiwan, increase with age, are predominantly female, and show higher prevalence in rural areas. Level of Evidence 2b Laryngoscope, 131:639–643, 2021

Increased Risk of Injury Following a Diagnosis of Vertigo: A Population‐based Study

“…This symptom entity encompasses a number of sensorimotor and multisensory syndromes of numerous etiologies and pathogeneses, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke in the brainstem, or cerebellum, and the most widely prevalent of all, peripheral vestibular disorders (PVD). With 1‐year prevalence rates estimated about approximate 1.2%–6.5%, 2 PVD causes a range of personal impacts such as disruption of daily activities, leave of absence, becoming homebound, reduced quality of life, provoking or worsening anxiety, social phobia, job loss/change, reduced efficiency at work, family problems, travel difficulties, 3 high medical expenditure, 4,5 and most alarmingly, injuries associated with fall 6–10 and traffic accidents 11 …”

Recent advances in the epidemiology and diagnosis of some common vestibular disorders

“…Among 1021 patients at a mean age of 12,5±4,9 years (range: 9 months -21 years) examined within a pediatric vestibular program between January 2012 and March 2019, the most common diagnoses include vestibular migraine (in 35,0%), benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (in 21,6%) and persistent postural perceptual dizziness (in 11,2% of the cases) (36). In 2016, 59986 patients have been diagnosed with peripheral vestibular disorders with prevalence rate of 2833,4 per 100000 population in Taiwan (38). Prevalence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is 446,4 per 100000 population, of vestibular neuritis is 307,2 per 100000 population and of Meniere's disease is 70,4 per 100000 population.…”

Az időskori szédülés életminőségre kifejtett hatása

“…A vizsgált, 65 év feletti betegcsoporton a leggyakoribb diagnózisok a Ménière-betegség és a centrális vestibularis eltérések voltak, ellentétben a 65 év alatti betegekkel, akiknél egyértelműen a BPPV a leggyakoribb, a második pedig a neuronitis vestibularis [17]. A Ménière-betegség incidenciája korábbi eredmények alapján 60 éves kor felett emelkedik [18], a centrális eltérések gyakorisága pedig az időskori vascularis rizikófaktorokkal magyarázható [19]. A tünetekre gyakorolt hatásuk miatt számos társbetegség rizikófaktornak tekinthető.…”