Personality characteristics in patients with vertigo.

The role of emotional factors in patients with vertigo has been widely debated. Patients with vertigo, as well as patients in two separate control groups, were tested with the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), the Cornell Medical Index (CMI), and a questionarie designed to evaluate the severity of the patients symptoms in order to further investigate the role of personality and its relationship to the symptom of vertigo. In patients with Meniere disease, a strong positive correlation was found between the severity of vertigo and the EPI and CMI scores. The concept of the psychological vulnerability" is useful in explaining these findings.