AUTHOR=Paredis Sophie , van Stiphout Lisa , Remmen Eva , Strupp Michael , Gerards Marie-Cecile , Kingma Herman , Van Rompaey Vincent , Fornos Angelica-Perez , Guinand Nils , van de Berg Raymond 

TITLE=DISCOHAT: An Acronym to Describe the Spectrum of Symptoms Related to Bilateral Vestibulopathy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.771650

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2021.771650

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Objective: To assess the prevalence of each symptom listed in the acronym DISCOHAT (worsening of symptoms in Darkness and/or uneven ground, Imbalance, Supermarket effect, Cognitive complaints, Oscillopsia, Head movements worsen symptoms, Autonomic complaints and Tiredness) in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP), compared to patients with unilateral vestibulopathy (UVP).
Methods: A descriptive case-control study was performed on BVP and UVP patients who were evaluated for their vestibular symptoms by two of the authors (RvdB, MCG) at a tertiary referral center, between 2017 and 2020. During history taking, the presence of each DISCOHAT symptom was checked and included in the electronic health record. Presence of a symptom was categorized into: “present”, “not present” and “missing”.
Results: Sixty-six BVP patients and 144 UVP patients were included in this study. Prevalence of single DISCOHAT symptoms varied from 52-92% in BVP patients and 18-75% in UVP patients. Patients with BVP significantly more often reported “worsening of symptoms in darkness”, “imbalance”, “oscillopsia” and “worsening of symptoms with fast head movements”, than UVP patients (p < 0.004).
Conclusion: The DISCOHAT acronym is able to capture a wide spectrum of symptoms related to vestibulopathy, while it is easy and quickly to use in clinic. Application of this acronym might facilitate a more thorough and uniform assessment of bilateral vestibulopathy, within and between vestibular clinics worldwide.