Tests used to evaluate dizziness in primary care

Abstract

Key points• Studies on diagnosing dizziness have been conducted in highly selected homogeneous groups of patients only.• Evidence to support the diagnostic process in primary care is scarce.• An exception is the head impulse test, with a positive test result being diagnostic of peripheral vestibular dysfunction and a negative test result diagnostic of central peripheral dysfunction.

Pain and Anxiety Mediate the Relationship Between Dizziness and Falls in Older People

“…Functional effects of vestibular impairments might be reflected in the balance tests administered, in particular the test of postural sway on the foam mat. Clinical tests of vestibular function are seldom used as part of falls assessments, and simple screening measures have proved to lack diagnostic accuracy . Further research is required to develop simple assessments of vestibular function for inclusion in routine fall risk assessment tools.…”

Asking about dizziness when turning in bed predicts examination findings for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

“…The gold standard for diagnosis of BPPV is established using the Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre (DH) for p-BPPV and the supine roll test (LR) for detecting h-BPPV [6,11]. The sensitivity for Dix-Hallpike för BPPV in the posterior canal is estimated to be around 80 % [7] and others have reported positive findings for BPPV after repetition of the Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre even if tested negative initially [9,29].…”

Prevalência de vestibulopatia em idosos institucionalizados de Natal - RN - Brasil

“…Records confirm that medical history, evaluation for nystagmus and the Dix-Hallpike Test 10 are the most important tools for the diagnosis of dizziness, especially of vestibular origin, during primary assessment 8 . Such tests allow the screening of patients who require more…”

“…Clinical examination 1,11 , as the initial clinical evaluation of a patient is known, can also be used to distinguish peripheral or central vestibular problems, the degree of injury and whether the condition of the patient is acute or chronic 10,[12][13][14][15] . There are several tests included in this assessment which, depending on the author in question, vary in number and type.…”