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Paroxysmal vertigo in children--an epidemiological study
1Department of Child Health, University of Aberdeen, UK.
Background:
Little is currently known about the prevalence of vertigo in children.
Methods:
In a questionnaire designed to examine the prevalence of migraine and migraine equivalents in children of school age, we included an item on 'attacks of dizziness in the past year'. The questionnaire was applied to 2165 children (10% of the school population in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland).
Results:
314 children had experienced at least one episode of dizziness in the previous year, unexplained in 44% of cases. A total of 57 children with three attacks, either unexplained or attributed to migraine, were interviewed and examined. Forty-five fulfilled our criteria for benign paroxysmal vertigo. Other symptoms suggestive of migraine were found in a small majority, but in 47% paroxysmal vertigo was an isolated symptom. The age of onset peaked at 12 years, but it was seen in all age groups. Paroxysmal vertigo was commonly accompanied by features that are common in migraine, i.e. pallor, nausea, phonophobia and photophobia, and migraine was twice as common in first degree relatives compared to controls.
Conclusions:
Paroxysmal vertigo is common in children and although it is seldom diagnosed, it appears to cause few major problems to the affected children. In common with previous studies, we found that it appears to be related to migraine.