Awareness and Knowledge of Vertigo among the Adult Population of Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Dizziness and vertigo are common among the adult and elderly population. However, the knowledge & awareness of vertigo and the understanding of the differences between vertigo and dizziness in the adult population is seldom studied. The present study aimed to assess the level of awareness and knowledge of vertigo among the adult population living in Selangor, Malaysia. In addition, the study also focused on the participants’ knowledge of differentiating dizziness and vertigo. This cross-sectional study received responses from 189 participants who were in the age range between 20 and 40 years among which 152 participants' responses met the inclusion criteria. A self-developed validated online questionnaire was used as a study tool to understand the awareness and knowledge of vertigo among the participants. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS (version 28) to obtain frequency and percentages. The results of the present study showed that 57.9% of participants had an average level of awareness of vertigo. Further, 55.3% disagreed that vertigo is the same as dizziness however only 6.6% of the participants were exactly able to identify the differences between vertigo and dizziness. The present study concludes an average level of awareness and knowledge of vertigo among most young adults of Selangor, Malaysia. However, the ability to differentiate vertigo from dizziness was very low among the participants, demonstrating a gap in their knowledge of vertigo. Hence, education about vertigo among the public must be ameliorated. Further studies are required on different age groups and within the other states of Malaysia.