Dizziness and vestibular disease among hospitalized and outpatients in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia and the Tidewater region

Abstract

Objective Vestibular disease and dizziness are important causes of morbidity. The purpose of this study is to assess the regional prevalence of these diagnoses. Methods This is a cross-sectional, population-based study of all patients in the region of interest diagnosed with dizziness or vestibular disease between 2010 and 2020. Results During the study period, 31,670 patients were diagnosed with dizziness. The mean age was 62 years (SD = 17). There were 20,269 females and 11,401 males; 64% (OR 1.34, p < .0001) of patients were white and 92% (OR 5.16, p < .0001) of patients were non-Hispanic. The prevalence of dizziness was 2.91%. A total of 8480 patients were diagnosed with vestibular disease. The mean age was 62 years (SD = 16). There were 5766 females and 2714 males; 60% (OR 1.13 p < .0001) of patients were white and 88% (OR 3.29, p < .0001) of patients were non-Hispanic. The prevalence of vestibular disease was 0.78%. The most common causes of vestibular disease were benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (n = 7040, 83%), vestibular schwannoma (n = 580, 7%), and Meniere’s disease (n = 360, 4%). Conclusions Dizziness and vestibular disease are disproportionately diagnosed in non-Hispanic white women. The regional prevalence of dizziness and vestibular disease was lower than other published values.