Causes of Dizziness in 417 Elderly Patients in Primary Care (Panel Diagnosis)
| Major Cause | Minor Cause | Totala | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| Note: Data for each patient were independently reviewed by a family physician, a geriatrician, and a nursing home doctor. | ||||||
| a Adds up to more than 100%, because more than 1 cause of dizziness per patient is possible. | ||||||
| Contributing causes | ||||||
| Adverse drug effect | 10 | 2 | 96 | 23 | 106 | 25 |
| Cardiovascular disease (including cerebrovascular disease) | 237 | 57 | 66 | 16 | 303 | 73 |
| Locomotor disease | 15 | 4 | 43 | 10 | 58 | 14 |
| Metabolic or endocrine conditions | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Neurological disease (excluding cerebrovascular disease) | 12 | 3 | 36 | 9 | 48 | 12 |
| Psychiatric illness | 41 | 10 | 40 | 10 | 81 | 19 |
| Peripheral vestibular disease | 60 | 14 | 40 | 10 | 100 | 24 |
| Impaired vision | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Other causes | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Unclear | 34 | 8 | – | – | 34 | 8 |
| Total | 417 | 100 | 331 | 79 | 748 | 179 |
| Contributing causes per patient | ||||||
| 1 | 126 | 30 | ||||
| 2 | 191 | 46 | ||||
| 3 | 59 | 14 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 1 | ||||
| 5 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Unclear | 34 | 8 | ||||
| Total | 417 | 100 | ||||