ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.

Sec. Neuro-Otology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1623914

This article is part of the Research TopicVestibular Function and Mental Health During the LifespanView all 4 articles

Clinical Features of Benign Paroxysmal Vertigo (BPPV) in The Elderly

Provisionally accepted
Huan  WangHuan Wang1Ran  ZhouRan Zhou2Jiachen  ShanJiachen Shan3Chengcheng  LiChengcheng Li4Lin  HanLin Han1*
  • 1west china fourth hospital, chengdu, China
  • 2beijing chaoyang hospital, beijing, China
  • 3fuwai hospital, beijing, China
  • 4ji shui tan hospital, beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The typical age of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is between 50 and 60 years. With the development of diagnostic techniques and the growth of the elderly, the number of elderly patients has been on the rise gradually. This study compared the clinical characteristics, treatments, and prognoses with patients.Methods: Patients were divided into two age groups based on age at onset of the disease: middle-aged BPPV (50-59 years) and elderly BPPV (60-80 years old). We compared clinical characteristics, treatment, prognosis, BPPV location, questionnaires between the two groups.Results: Female patients constituted a high proportion in both the middle-aged BPPV group (21, 75.0%) and the elderly BPPV group (39, 67.2%). The elderly group had significantly higher median scores in the DHI impact than the middle-aged group (24 vs. 16, p = 0.008). In contrast, the BBS score decreased (44 vs. 49, p = 0.019), and the elderly group exhibited higher fall rates (6.9% vs. 0%, p = 0.381) at the last follow-up. However, the elderly BPPV group had lower rates of maneuver (82.8% vs. 89.3%, p = 0.638). Age at onset was positively correlated with the DHI score (r = 0.316, p = 0.005) and negatively correlated with the BBS score (r = -0.330, p = 0.002).Compared to the middle-aged BPPV group, elderly patients with BPPV exhibited a higher DHI score, increased fall rates, lower BBS scores, and lower rate maneuver, which had a more significant negative impact on daily life.

Keywords: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, BPPV, Vertigo, balance, Elderly

Received: 06 May 2025; Accepted: 29 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhou, Shan, Li and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Lin Han, west china fourth hospital, chengdu, China

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