Abstract
Objective To compare the etiology of vertigo patients between flying personnel group and ordinary group and to provide evidence for the accurate diagnosis of vertigo or dizziness and the aeromedical assessment. Methods One thousand and sixteen ordinary vertigo patients, who were diagnosed by the Vertigo Center of Former Air Force General Hospital of PLA in the period from January 2017 to April 2018, were assigned to ordinary group. One hundred and fifty-three vertigo inpatients and outpatients of flying personnel, who were diagnosed by the hospital in the period from September 1984 to Augut 2018, were selected as flying personnel group. The etiological stratification analysis was conducted upon the gender and age in ordinary group. The disease spectrum was analyzed in flying personnel group. The etiological characteristics were compared between two groups. Results ①In ordinary group, 1 265 etiological factors were found in 1 016 vertigo patients (some of them had 2 or more etiologies). The top 7 etiological factors of the vertigo patients in ordinary group were benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) that took 32.73%(414/1 265) , vestibular migraine(VM), 31.46%(398/1 265), hypertension 12.96%(164/1 265), diabetes 4.03%(51/1 265), Meniere's disease(MD) 3.87%(49/1 265), vestibular neuritis(VN) 3.87%(49/1 265), and cerebral infarction 3.24%(41/1 265). 1.43%(17/1 265) cases were unable to categorize clearly. ②The patients of ordinary group, aged from 8 to 89 yrs, were categorized to 60 yrs subgroups. The top 4 etiological factors for 60 yrs group were BPPV(31.28%), VM(20.59%), hypertension(20.05%), and cerebral infraction(6.68%). Detection rate of the top 7 etiological factors had significant difference in different age groups except VN and MD (χ2=13.45-53.16, P<0.01). ③The etiological stratification by gender showed that the ratio of male to female was 1.00∶1.57. Detection rate of VM in female was higher than that in male. Detection rate of hypertension, MD and VN in male was higher than that in female, the difference was satistically significant (χ2=3.87-8.93, P<0.05). ④In flying personnel group, 184 etiological factors were found in 153 vertigo patients (some of them had 2 or more etiologies). Top 3 etiological factors were motion sickness(MS) that took 11.41%(21/184), VN that took 10.32%(19/184) and MD that took 9.78%(18/184). The dizziness or vertigo with no accurate etiology took 57.61%(106/184). ⑤The BPPV and VM detection rate in flying personnel group were less than those in ordinary group (χ2=78.34, 78.77, P<0.01). The dizziness or vertigo cases with no accurate etiology and MS, MD, VN and alternobaric vertigo cetection rate in flying personnel group were higher than those in ordinary group (χ2=6.02-645.59, P<0.05). Conclusions The causes of vertigo/dizziness are complex and diverse and patients may have more than one etiology. The etiological stratification analysis for patients is conducive to accurate diagnosis and treatment. Studying the difference of etiology between flying personnel and ordinary people will contribute to exploring the pathogenesis and prevention measures in flight environment and providing proof for aeromedical assessment. Key words: Vertigo; Factor analysis; Statistical; Eligibility determination; Flying personnel
Published Version
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