The Epidemiology of Vertigo, Dizziness, and Unsteadiness and Its Links to Co-Morbidities

Abstract

Vertigo, dizziness, and unsteadiness (VDU) are common symptoms traditionally considered to result from different kinds of vestibular and non-vestibular dysfunctions. The epidemiology of each symptom and how they relate to each other and to migraine, agoraphobia, motion sickness susceptibility (MSS), vaso-vagal episodes (VVE), and anxiety-depression was the object of this population-based study in north-eastern France. A self-administered questionnaire was returned by 2987 adults (age span 18–86 years, 1471 women). The 1-year prevalence for vertigo was 48.3%, for unsteadiness 39.1%, and for dizziness 35.6%. The three symptoms were correlated with each other, occurred mostly (69.4%) in various combinations rather than in isolation, less than once per month, and 90% of episodes lasted ≤2 min. The three symptoms were similar in terms of female predominance, temporary profile of the episodes, and their link to falls and nausea. Symptom episodes of >1 h increase the risk of falls. VDU are much more common than the known prevalence of vestibular disorders. The number of drugs taken increase VDU even when controlling for age. Each VDU symptom was correlated with each co-morbidity in Chi-squared tests. The data suggest that the three symptoms are more likely to represent a spectrum resulting from a range of similar – rather than from different, unrelated – mechanisms or disorders. Logistic regressions controlling for each vestibular symptom showed that vertigo correlated with each co-morbidity but dizziness and unsteadiness did not, suggesting that vertigo is certainly not a more specific symptom than the other two. A logistic regression using a composite score of VDU, controlling for each co-morbidity showed a correlation of VDU to migraine and VVE but not to MSS and not to agoraphobia in men, only in women.

Silent Vestibulopathy in Asymmetric Hearing Loss Can Be a Sign of a Cerebellopontine Angle Tumor

“…Cueva (2004) prospectively evaluated 312 patients with ASNHL, including 24 cases of VS and 2 cases of glomus jugulare tumors; none of these patients presented with both a CPA tumor and vertigo [22]. An epidemiological study reported that the 1-year prevalence rates of vertigo and dizziness at the population level are 48.3% and 35.6% [28]. Vestibular hypofunction is exceedingly common in individuals with hearing loss period (prevalence ranges from 20-70% in the literature), and rarely are these individuals dizzy, with the exception only of those that experience a rapid change in vestibular function (i.e., due to cochleovestibular loss).…”

Neurological Aspects of Vertigo Diagnostics and Treatment (Review)

“…Чаще всего данный тип головокружения возникает при тревожных и депрессивных расстройствах, что требует особого внимания в связи с их широ-кой распространенностью [11,16,20,27,31,32,35]. По данным ряда авторов, именно пациенты с несистемным головокружением составляют по-давляющее большинство пациентов при данной патологии [4,28].…”

“…Как известно, в контроле равновесия принимают участие вестибулярная система, мозжечок и его связи, проприорецеп-ция и зрительный контроль. В связи с этим голо-вокружение является одной из наиболее частых жалоб в практике неврологов и врачей других специальностей, имея отчетливую тенденцию к росту в старшей возрастной группе [11, 15, 17,28,30,37]. По данным различных авторов, голово-кружение является причиной обращения к врачу общей практики и неврологу в 5-20 % случаев и одним из самых частых поводов для экстренной госпитализации [1,3,5,7, 13, 18].…”

Acil Serviste Vertigoya Yaklaşım

“…Neuhauser ve arkadaşları Almanya'da vertigonun 18-79 yaşları arasında hayat boyu prevalansını % 7.4 olarak bir yıllık prevalansını % 4.9 ve bir yıllık insidansını % 1.4 olarak bildirmişlerdir 19 . Yakın zamanlarda Fransa toplum temelli bir çalışmada vertigonun bir yıllık prevalansı % 48 olarak bulundu 20 . Agrawal ve arkadaşlarının yaptığı çalışmada ABD'de 40 yaş ve üzeri nüfusta vestibüler disfonksiyonun 5 yıllık prevalansı % 35 olarak bulunmuştur 21 .…”