Abstract
Abstract Aim The vestibular system is a sensory organ of the inner ear contributing towards balance, orientation, and coordination. Symptoms of vestibular dysfunction are a common presentation to hospitals in England. Method Using the NHS Digital website and accessing the Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity datasets, we identified episodes of “Disorders of Vestibular Function”. This definition was further broken down into seven sub-types of different vestibular disorder. The data covers all NHS funded work in English hospitals resulting in admission. Using a 6-year period between 1st April 2014–31st March 2020 trends in number of admitted patients were recorded. Results There was an 84% increase in the number of patients admitted to hospital for diseases of vestibular function. From 6,473 admissions in 2014, to 11,960 in 2020. The largest increase was seen in patients admitted with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) with an increase of 4,154 admissions, equivalent to a 126% rise. The trend was progressive and consistent year on year. All other conditions such as vestibular neuritis, other peripheral vertigo and unspecified vestibular disorders increased, however diagnoses of Ménière's disease fell 2%. Patients with BPPV had the highest average age upon diagnosis. Conclusions There is a clear need to investigate the drivers of the increase in number of diagnoses and admissions. Hypothesised reasons include an ageing population, improved diagnostics, or coding errors. It may also be a result of increasing hospital attendances and a decrease in see and treat of patients with BPPV in A&E.
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