Search

The purpose of this study was to describe quality-of-life aspects in a group of patients (n = 99) suffering from peripheral vestibular disorder, using three different self-rated instruments, the Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS), the Vertigo Handicap Questionnaire (VHQ) and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). The results showed that the type of dizziness that most influenced the quality-of-life aspects were: frequent short- or long-term dizziness, nausea, and the feeling that the ground was distant or as though the patient were walking on clouds. However, several of the impairments in daily life were neither related to the disease itself nor the demographic data. This verifies the necessity of investigating other factors such as personality and coping capacity. The results of this study also demonstrate the patients' need of psychosocial support. A comprehensive assessment and evaluation is important in order to identify each patient's needs.

This study compares the symptoms, disabilities and handicap, as assessed by means of a questionnaire, in two groups of patients with a unilateral peripheral vestibular disorder: those with a total canal paresis and those with a partial canal paresis, as judged by the duration parameter using the Fitzgerald Hallpike caloric test in the absence of optic fixation. The results of the study indicate that the severity of dizziness, the Dizziness Index (severity x frequency) and the overall level of disabilities related to visual vertigo are less severe in unilateral profound or total loss of vestibular function than in unilateral mild vestibular loss.

A qualitative study was conducted for the purpose of exploring how patients with dizziness manage their daily living. Ten patients with history of dizziness were recruited from the out-patient clinic, Department of Audiology, in a hospital in Stockholm. Collection and analysis of data were inspired by the method of grounded theory. Four themes were developed that described the experience of living with dizziness: vulnerable reactions, affirmation and non-affirmation, finding ways to carry on daily living, and expressing the need for health care support. These themes seem to conceptualize these patients' difficulties and needs in relationship to living with dizziness and, given the small sample, have implications for nursing practice and provide a framework for a broader study.

We carried out a questionnaire survey regarding symptoms of orthostatic dysregulation and administered the Japanese Edition of the Cornell Medical Index-Health Questionnaire (JCMI) and the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Test (Y-G test) to 151 male medical students (mean age, 24.6 yr). Orthostatic dysregulation was identified in 19 (12.5%) of the subjects based on the questionnaire results. The percentage classed as types III (possible neurotic) and IV (probable neurotic) according to the health questionnaire was 47.3% in the 19 with orthostatic dysregulation and 8.9% in the controls (n = 78). The percentage classed as types B and E, suggestive of emotional or psychological disturbance according to the personality test, was 42.1% in those with orthostatic dysregulation and 8.9% in the controls. These differences were significant (P < 0.01). These results suggest that psychosomatic factors influence the occurrence of orthostatic dysregulation in young men.

In order to assess how much disability is caused by vertigo, health status scores of patients referred with dizziness or vertigo were compared with local population normative data and with the severity of illness, measured by a disease-specific questionnaire. The questionnaires were administered by post to patients awaiting an ENT out-patient appointment. There was a strong correlation (P = 0.001) between the eight dimensions of the SF-36 (Mos 36 item short-form health survey) and disease severity, measured by the Dizziness Handicap Inventory questionnaire. Compared with the general population, vertigo sufferers had significant role limitation due to physical problems and social functioning (men) and physical problems and vitality (women). General health status is significantly affected by both the presence and severity of vertigo and the SF-36 may prove useful in assessing outcomes.

This study assesses the prevalence of psychological disturbance among a consecutive series of 120 neuro-otology outpatients, using a structured interview conducted by a clinical psychologist. 42% of all patients were found to be in need of, and were offered, psychological help (27% of those with hearing loss, 45% of those with tinnitus and 64% of those with dizziness). 86% of those offered psychological help accepted it. Current psychological distress was associated with the number of symptoms complained of and past psychiatric history. Patients completed the General Health Questionnaire which was found to have a sensitivity rate of 82% and a specificity rate of 87% in this setting. Physicians were also asked to rate patients' psychological state; close agreement was found between these ratings and those of a psychologist. The contribution of psychological assessment of neuro-otology patients is discussed.