Geriatric benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: a single-center study

Objective: To compare the clinical features, risk factors, distribution of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) subtypes, and effectiveness of canalith repositioning between geriatric and non-geriatric patients with BPPV. Methods: A total of 400 patients with BPPV were enrolled. Canalith repositioning was performed according to the semicircular canals involved. Patients were divided by age into a geriatric group (& GE;60 years) and a non-geriatric group (20-59 years). Clinical characteristics, potential age-related risk factors, distribution of subtypes, and effectiveness of canalith repositioning were compared between the groups. Results: Female sex was significantly more common in all age groups, with a peak female-to male ratio of 5.1:1 in the group aged 50-59 years. There was a higher proportion of men in the geriatric group. A history of disease associated with atherosclerosis was significantly more common in the geriatric group (p < 0.05). Migraine was significantly more common in the non geriatric group (p = 0.018), as was posterior canal BPPV. The horizontal canal BPPV (especially horizontal canal BPPV-cupulolithiasis), and multicanal BPPV subtypes were more common in the geriatric group, whereas anterior canal BPPV was more common in the non-geriatric group. Two canalith repositioning sessions were effective in 58.0% of the geriatric cases and in 72.6% of the non-geriatric cases (p = 0.002). There was a tendency for the effectiveness of canalith repositioning to decrease with increasing age.

Automated summary

This study compared the clinical features, risk factors, distribution of BPPV subtypes, and effectiveness of canalith repositioning between geriatric and non-geriatric patients with BPPV. It was found that the geriatric group had a higher proportion of males and a higher prevalence of diseases associated with atherosclerosis. The non-geriatric group had a higher prevalence of migraine and posterior canal BPPV. The effectiveness of canalith repositioning decreased with increasing age.