Balance performance and self-perceived handicap among dizzy patients in primary health care

Figures & data

Table I.  Median age and gender for the study group distributed by diagnoses.

Diagnosis	n (%)	Median age	Females/males
Multisensory	47 (40)	81	30/17
Peripheral vestibular disorder	29 (24)	51	19/10
Whiplash-associated disorder (WAD)	25 (21)	40	14/11
Unspecific origin	7 (6)	57	4/3
Phobic postural vertigo (PPV)	6 (5)	55	4/2
Cervical origin	5 (4)	49	2/3
Total	119 (100)	65	73/46

Table II.  Means and standard deviations (SD) for balance measures, calculated in seconds (tandem standing and standing on one leg) and steps (figure of 8 and walking heel to toe). In static measures, the closer to 30 seconds the better balance, in dynamic measures, the closer to zero steps, the better balance.

	Static measures				Dynamic measures
	Tandem standing		Standing on one leg		Figure of 8	Walking heel to toe
Diagnosis	Eyes open	Eyes closed	Eyes open	Eyes closed
Multisensory	16 (12)	3.0 (4.8)	5.9 (6.8)	1.0 (1.4)	14 (13)	7.5 (4.5)
WAD	25 (9.3)	10 (10)	21 (12)	7.9 (8.9)	2.9 (11)	1.6 (3.0)
Peripheral vestibular disorder	27 (6.0)	7.0 (8.5)	21 (10)	4.9 (4.9)	2.3 (6.4)	1.6 (2.6)
Cervical	30 (0.0)	13 (11)	22 (12)	10 (12)	1.6 (3.5)	1.2 (2.7)
Unspecific	29 (3.0)	14 (12)	23 (11)	2.5 (1.4)	1.6 (3.0)	1.4 (1.9)
PPV	30 (0.0)	22 (7.1)	24 (12)	5.7 (6.7)	0.3 (0.8)	0.7 (1.6)

Table III.  Means and standard deviations (SD) for Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). The higher the score, the greater level of self-perceived handicap.

	DHI score
Diagnosis	Total	Functional	Emotional	Physical
Multisensory	40 (17)	13 (6.2)	13 (7.0)	14 (6.7)
WAD	51 (23)	18 (9.0)	16 (9.4)	16 (6.9)
Peripheral vestibular disorder	35 (17)	11 (6.6)	10 (6.2)	14 (6.7)
Cervical	47 (17)	15 (11)	14 (6.5)	17 (4.7)
Unspecific	37 (33)	15 (14)	12 (7.2)	10 (12)
PPV	73 (18)	23 (6.8)	29 (2.0)	21 (13)

Table IV.  Correlation between Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and balance measures.

	DHI				Tandem standing		Standing on one leg		Figure of 8	Walking heel to toe
	Total	Func.	Emot.	Phys.	Eyes open	Eyes closed	Eyes open	Eyes closed
DHI total	1.00
DHI func.	0.89*	1.00
DHI emot.	0.88*	0.70*	1.00
DHI phys.	0.81*	0.58*	0.56*	1.00
Tandem standing eyes open	−0.10	−0.17	−0.08	0.02	1.00
Tandem standing eyes closed	0.06	0.08	0.12	−0.07	0.47*	1.00
Standing on one leg eyes open		−0.03	−0.00	−0.07	0.08	0.61*	0.50*	1.00
Standing on one leg eyes closed		−0.03	0.01	−0.01	−0.01	0.38*	0.32*	0.6*	1.00
Figure of 8	−0.05	0.03	−0.14	−0.06	−0.56*	−0.37*	−0.57*	−0.34*	1.00
Walking heel to toe	−0.09	−0.05	−0.13	−0.05	−0.55*	−0.44*	−0.66*	−0.46*	0.6*	1.00

*p <0.01, two-tailed.