Simple Question Can Lead to Remedy for Older Adults' Dizziness and Impaired Balance

A University of Gothenburg thesis published in Clinical and Experimental Research aimed to improve knowledge of older people's dizziness and unsteady gait, with specific focus on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), reports Medical Xpress . One study in the Journal of Vestibular Research cited in the thesis included 149 individuals — 96 women and 53 men — referred for ear, nose, and throat treatment due to dizziness. Each subject answered a questionnaire composed of 15 questions, and the question most clearly related to BPPV diagnosis concerned whether the individual felt dizzy on turning over in bed. "Onset of vertigo when a person lies down or turns over in bed is a quick identifier of BPPV, the most common cause of dizziness, which is potentially curable," said thesis author Ellen Lindell with the Södra Älvsborg Hospital. "Treating it enhances patients' well-being and can reduce many older people's suffering and cut costs to society." BBPV is caused by the displacement and loosening of otoliths (crystals) from the inner ear, which can be remedied by maneuver treatments. This entails turning and spinning the subject's whole body, and it varies according to which semicircular canal, on which side of the body, is affected. "The results in my thesis show that for those who are affected by dizziness, it's associated with experiencing inferior health-related quality of life, and their subjective health self-assessments are less favorable than people without dizziness," Lindell said.