Usefulness of the dizziness handicap inventory in the screening for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA. whitney@pitt.edu

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to determine whether a newly developed subscale of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) could assist in the screening of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case review. SETTING: Tertiary balance referral center. PATIENTS: Charts of 383 patients (mean age, 61 yr) with a variety of vestibular diagnoses (peripheral and central) were reviewed. INTERVENTIONS: Patients completed the DHI before the onset of physical therapy intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A newly developed BPPV subscale developed from current DHI items was computed to determine whether the score could assist the practitioner in identifying individuals with BPPV. RESULTS: Individuals with BPPV had significantly higher mean scores on the newly developed BPPV subscale of the DHI (p < 0.01). The five-item BPPV score was a significant predictor of the likelihood of having BPPV (chi2 = 8.35; p < 0.01). On the two-item BPPV scale, individuals who had a score of 8 of 8 were 4.3 times more likely to have BPPV compared with individuals who had a score of 0. CONCLUSION: Items on the DHI appear to be helpful in determining the likelihood of an individual having the diagnosis of BPPV.

PMID: 16151354 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]