Citation

Domínguez-Durán E, Mármol-Szombathy I, Palmero-Olmo E, Nogales-Nieves A, López-Urbano MJ, Palomo-Sánchez A, Alarcón-Balanza F, Ruiz-de Arcos M, Bullón-Fernández B, Valle-Martín F, Mora-Quintero A, Poyatos-Poyatos B, Manjón-Collado MT, Sánchez-Gómez S. Acta Otorrinolaringol. Esp. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología y Patología Cérvico-Facial, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.otorri.2019.12.006

PMID

32522341

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In our country, there are no series of patients that have described the incidence of the different diseases which cause balance disorders (BD) in primary care. The objective of this study is to calculate the incidence of each disease to propose specific training measures.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: Prospective cross-sectional study. Patient data of five primary care physicians in five different primary care centres in our hospital area were collected. All patients who attended consultations for any type of vertigo, imbalance or dizziness over one year as the main reason for consultation were recruited. Using a diagnostic-therapeutic algorithm, patients were diagnosed and treated in primary care or referred for study in hospital care.

RESULTS: The population studied was 7,896 people. An annual incidence of BD of 2.2% was detected. Of the cases, 56.1% could be diagnosed and treated in primary care. Of the patients, 53.8% were diagnosed with some type of positional vertigo; the next three most frequent diagnoses were vestibular migraine, central nervous system ischaemia and medication side effects. These four groups accounted for 87.9% of the population.

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of BD in primary care requires an approach that includes training in the diagnosis and treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, headache, cardiovascular risk factors and pharmacology. It is not necessary to prescribe vestibular suppressants in most patients.

Language: en

Keywords

Primary care; Atención primaria; Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo; Cerebral small vessel diseases; Drug-related side effects and adverse reactions; Efectos colaterales y reacciones adversas relacionados con fármacos; Enfermedad cerebral de pequeños vasos; Lesiones cerebrales vasculares; Migraña vestibular; Vascular brain injuries; Vértigo posicional paroxismal benigno; Vestibular migraine