A clinical epidemiological study in 2169 patients with vertigo.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the clinical epidemiological characteristics of vertigo.

METHODS

Retrospective study on 2169 patients with vertigo (male 883, female 1286, 7-90 years old) of the past 20 years.

RESULTS

More than 50 kinds of causative diseases were recognized. Peripheral, central, and unclassified vertigo took up 33.8, 17.2 and 26.8% of patients, respectively, while vertigo of unknown origin was around 22.2%. Vertigo patients increased according to age and reached its peak in the 1960s among all three categories. Although female patients were seemingly overwhelmed the male, no significant difference in the incidence rate was recognized in two genders. Only 2.2% (48 cases) of the total vertigo patients were children, while elders occupied 30.0% (650 cases). Compared to younger patients, the elderly have a high tendency of suffering central vertigo.

CONCLUSION

Vertigo attacks patients in all age spans, with various causative diseases.