Search

Introduction: Dizziness is one of the most prevalent symptoms in the elderly. Anxiety and depression are common in dizzy adult patients, but there is scarce information about comorbidity between vestibular disturbances and psychiatric disorders in the aged., Objective: To assess the prevalence of anxiety and depression disorders in elderly with chronic dizziness of vestibular origin., Methods: Transversal study that used the Brazilian version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 to assess anxiety and depressive disorders in elderly patients (≥ 60 years old) with chronic dizziness., Results: Most of the 44 patients included in the study were female (88.6%) with a mean age of 71 years (± 7.5), 68.1% had experienced dizziness for 1 year or more. The most prevalent diagnosis was benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (52.3%). The prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobias during life were 29.5% and 22.7%, respectively, and, in the last 12 months, 18.2% and 15.9%. There was no patient with panic disorder, agoraphobia or social phobia. The prevalence of depressive disorder during life was 45.4%, and, in the last 12 months, were 11.3%., Conclusion: Aged patients with chronic dizziness had high prevalence of some mental disorders., (Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: Cognitive and emotional factors may affect balance; psychiatric conditions are a common component in patient dizziness. The treatment of patients with vertigo may be affected to a greater degree by the suffering due to this disease than by the severity of organic changes., Objective: This study aimed to investigate associations between vestibular test results and self-reported psychological complaints in patients evaluated during 2009 in an audiology unit at a hospital in Porto Alegre., Methods: We conducted a retrospective, descriptive-exploratory study of data taken from a database of the software VecWin® and VecWin® 2, developed by Neurograff®. We investigated vestibular test results, reports of psychological symptoms reported spontaneously, and information such as age, sex and the presence of vertigo and/or dizziness. This study consisted of three steps: clustering, exclusion/inclusion and quantification., Conclusion: Age and gender and the presence or absence of vertigo and/or dizziness were not variables that influenced the outcomes of vestibular testing. There was a significant association between the presence of self-reported psychological complaints and normal vestibular test results. Thus, it is crucial that professionals pay attention to psychological issues reported by patients when the vestibular history is taken.

Unlabelled: Dizziness is frequent in elderly people., Aims: To evaluate the Quality of Life (QoL) in elderly subjects with dizziness, relate it with gender and age., Material and Method: A prospective study comprising 120 elderly patients with dizziness evaluated with Brazilian versions of the Whoqol-bref and the dizziness handicap inventory (DHI). The factor analysis (FA), the Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests, and the Spearman correlation were applied to study the results., Results: The most compromised domains were the DHI physical domain and the Whoqol-bref physical and environment domains. FA resulted in 3 factors in the DHI and 5 factors in the Whoqol-bref. There was a moderate correlation (-0.596) in the total scores of both instruments. Males had a better QoL in the "environment perception and introspectivity" and "health perception" factors of the Whoqol-bref test. Females had a better QoL in the "functionality perception" factor of the Whoqol-bref test. There were no significant age differences., Conclusions: Elderly patients with dizziness have a worse QoL. Elderly females with dizziness have worse QoL scores in "environment perception and introspectivity" and "health perception" and better QoL in the "functionality perception" factor compared to elderly males.

Unlabelled: Balance disorders affect social, family and professional activities. Vestibular rehabilitation can reduce the impact of these disorders on the quality of life of individuals with vertigo., Aim: to study the influence of vestibular rehabilitation on the quality of life of individuals, correlating it with gender, age, results from computerized vectoelectronystagmography and vertigo., Study Type: Retrospective., Materials and Methods: Twenty-two individuals were submitted to customized vestibular rehabilitation and the Brazilian Dizziness Handicap Inventory - DHI before and after vestibular rehabilitation. Results from this questionnaire were correlated with gender, age, vestibular assessment and the presence of vertigo., Results: all the DHI scores reduced significantly after vestibular rehabilitation. There were no differences among genders; adults and elderly patients; irritative peripheral vestibular syndromes; deficiency syndromes and normal exams; the presence or absence of vertigo., Conclusion: all the individuals had improvements in their quality of life after customized vestibular rehabilitation.