Quality of life evaluation of elderly patients with dizziness

Authors

Dr Flávio Serafini (São Paulo, Brazil)
Dr. Fernando Freitas Ganança (São Paulo, Brazil)
Dr. med. D. Silva (São Paulo, Brazil)
Dr. med. MR Perracini (São Paulo, Brazil)
Dr. med. SS Cavalli (São Paulo, Brazil)

Proceedings

XXX Congress of the NES - Oporto - Portugal

Topics

Neurootology
Equilibrium
Diseases
Neurootology
Equilibrium
Neurootology

Keywords

Dizziness, Equilibrium, Falls, Vestibular function.

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of elderly patients with dizziness and to compare the QOL of elderly patients who presented falls in the last twelve months with those who didn’t.
Methods: exploratory study including fifty elderly patients suffering from dizziness and a hypothesis of vestibular syndrome. These patients were submitted to the Brazilian version of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory. Factorial analysis was performed.
Results: Thirteen patients were male and 37 female; twenty six patients were fallers and 24 non-fallers. The dizzy elderly patients presented high scores at the DHI. The elderly patients who presented falls had tendency to present higher scores at the DHI. The incapacity to perform instrumental activities was the most relevant factor related to QOL.
Conclusion: The findings showed that the dizzy elderly patients presented a decline in their QOL. The QOL in fallers had a tendency to be worse than that of non-fallers.