Psychological Symptoms in Patients With Chronic Dizziness



Chitsaz A¹ ; Khorvash F² ; Gholamrezaei A³ ; Nourmohammadi A⁴ Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Isfahan Medical School Published:2013

Abstract

Background: Dizziness is one of the most commonly occurring chief complaints in neurology. The aim of this study was to differentiate patients with dizziness according to organic and somatoform vertigo and evaluate the relationship of dizziness/vertigo symptoms with psychological symptoms in patients with chronic vertigo and dizziness. Methods: This multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted on 18- to 65-year-old referred to two neurology outpatient clinics in the city of Isfahan, Iran, during 2012-2013. Patients completed the symptom check-list (SCL-90-R), and vertigo symptom scale-short form (VSS-SF). Findings: During the study period, 179 patients (mean age: 30.9 ± 0.1 years, 81.7% women) were included. In 74.3% of the patients (n = 133) dizziness was of organic and in 25.7% (n = 46) of nonorganic origin. Compared with the organic group, the patients with nonorganic dizziness had much more scores on SCL-90-R. Conclusion: The results indicates that psychological symptoms are associated with dizziness symptoms in patients with psychiatric disorders and it should be included in the differential diagnosis in patients with chronic dizziness. Hence, in cases of dizziness disorders, early interdisciplinary cooperation is both helpful and essential during diagnostic work-up to include signs of somatic and psychosomatic origin and perevent chronification and reduce the severe handicap, and incurring high medical costs.