Department of Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58106. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058106. Epub 2013 Mar 5.
Dizziness/vertigo is one of the most common complaint and handicapping condition among patients aged 65 years and older (Geriatric patients). This study was conducted to assess the impact of dizziness/vertigo on the quality of life in the geriatric patients attending a geriatric outpatient clinic.
A cross-sectional study was performed in a geriatric outpatient clinic of a rural teaching tertiary care hospital in central India.
In all consecutive geriatric patients with dizziness/vertigo attending geriatric outpatient clinic, DHI questionnaire was applied to assess the impact of dizziness/vertigo and dizziness associated handicap in the three areas of a patients' life: physical, functional and emotional domain. Later, each patient was evaluated and underwent Dix-Hallpike maneuver by the physician who was blind of the DHI scoring of the patient.
We compared means and proportions of variables across two categories of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and non-BPPV. For these comparisons we used Student's t-test to test for continuous variables, chi-square test for categorical variables and Fisher's exact test in the case of small cell sizes (expected value<5).
The magnitude of dizziness/vertigo was 3%. Of the 88 dizziness/vertigo patients, 19 (22%) and 69(78%) cases, respectively, were attributed to BPPV and non-BPPV group. The association of DHI score ≥50 with the BPPV was found to be statistically significant with x(2) value = 58.2 at P<0.01.
DHI Score is a useful tool for the prediction of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Correct diagnosis of BPPV is 16 times greater if the DHI Score is greater than or equal to 50. The physical, functional and emotional investigation of dizziness, through the DHI, has demonstrated to be a valuable and useful instrument in the clinical routine.
头晕/眩晕是 65 岁及以上老年患者（老年患者）最常见的主诉和致残症状之一。本研究旨在评估头晕/眩晕对在老年门诊就诊的老年患者生活质量的影响。
在印度中部一所农村教学三级保健医院的老年门诊进行了一项横断面研究。
对所有在老年门诊就诊的伴有头晕/眩晕的连续老年患者，应用 DHI 问卷评估头晕/眩晕对患者生活三个方面（身体、功能和情感）的影响以及与头晕相关的残疾。然后，每位患者由一名医生进行评估并接受 Dix-Hallpike 手法检查，该医生对患者的 DHI 评分不知情。
我们比较了良性阵发性位置性眩晕（BPPV）和非 BPPV 两类患者的变量均值和比例。对于这些比较，我们使用学生 t 检验来检验连续变量，使用卡方检验来检验分类变量，在小样本量（期望<5）的情况下使用 Fisher 确切检验。
头晕/眩晕的严重程度为 3%。在 88 例头晕/眩晕患者中，分别有 19 例（22%）和 69 例（78%）患者归因于 BPPV 和非 BPPV 组。DHI 评分≥50 与 BPPV 的相关性具有统计学意义，x(2) 值为 58.2，P<0.01。
DHI 评分是预测良性阵发性位置性眩晕的有用工具。如果 DHI 评分大于或等于 50，则正确诊断 BPPV 的可能性增加 16 倍。通过 DHI 对头晕进行身体、功能和情感调查，已证明在临床常规中是一种有价值和有用的工具。
