Prevalence of Age Induced Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo among Various Categories of Elderly Population

Abstract

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is the most common and treatable vestibular disorder. It is commonly seen in the elderly population. BPPV is a type of vertigo that is brought on by change in position of the head with respect to gravity. The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of appropriate age group of the individuals suffering from BPPV in elderly population. The study was an observational study. A total of 64 people were recruited for the study aged between 60-70 and 71-80yrs that were selected from Krishna hospital Karad through a simple random sampling method. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to select the individuals for the study. Individuals of age group between 60-80 years of both the sex were also considered for the study. The individuals who were not included in the study were those not willing to participate, individuals’ history of acute trauma. Demographic data, assent and consent were taken from the individuals and the explanation of the study was given. The special tests like Dix-Hallpike positioning test, Horizontal roll test and Head pitch test were performed over the individuals. In this study the overall prevalence of age induced BPPV was evaluated according to Dix-Hallpike test it was found that out of 64 individuals 61% were positive for Dix-Hallpike test. Out of 45 males 26 were positive and 13 females from total 19 were indicated Dix-Hallpike test as positive. Thus, this result shows that females are more prone to develop BPPV. This study concluded that BPPV was common among the age group of 71-80 years than the age group of 60-70 years. The study revealed that the individuals in middle old age group are getting more affected by BPPV than the individuals in young old age group. Thus the societal impact which affects the individuals with BPPV can be reduced by making preventive strategies to improve the quality of life and to decrease the disability adjusted years.