Epidemiological and Clinical Study of Vertigo in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Bangladesh

Aims: Vertigo is an abnormal perception of the movement of the environment or self and may result from diseases of the labyrinth, vestibular nerve or its central connections, vertebrobasilar insufficiency, and anxiety disorder. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of vertigo patients.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was done at the Neurology outpatient department (OPD) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) from September 2013 to August 2015. All the patients presenting with vertigo were evaluated by history, clinical examinations, Dix-Hallpike test, and appropriate investigations.

Results: Total patients were 164 (male 57.3%) with a mean age of 44.45±14.46years. Half of them were in the 36-56 years age group. 58.5% of patients came from urban areas and 41.5% from rural areas. Nearly two-fifths (37.2%) suffered from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), 20.7% had anxiety disorder, 14.6% Meniere’s disease, 11% migraine, and 6.1% had a transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Two-fifths had precipitating factors. Vertigo was associated with restlessness and palpitation (18.29%), headache (15.85%), vomiting (14.02%), insomnia (12.19%), tinnitus (10.98%), diplopia (6.09%), slurred speech (5.1%), and deafness (4.9%). Common comorbidities were hypertension (HTN) (15.2%), diabetes mellitus (DM) (5.5%) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) (0.6%). Hallpike test was positive in 37.8% of patients; among them, 87.1% were improved by the Epley’s maneuver.

Conclusion: Our present epidemiological study suggests that vertigo is a symptom for which there are several causative factors. BPPV was the commonest cause in our patients. Vertigo patients often have associated symptoms and other comorbidities.