Anxiety, Mood, and Personality Disorders in Patients with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

This study presents the current prevalence of anxiety, mood, and personality disorders as well as factors associated with the existence of psychiatric disorders in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

The study sample comprised 46 patients with BPPV and 74 control subjects. Anxiety and mood disorders were ascertained via the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition/Clinical Version. Personality disorders were diagnosed via the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM, Revised Third Edition, Personality Disorders.

Of the 46 patients, 18 (39.1%) had at least one mood or anxiety disorder and 13 (28.3%) had at least one personality disorder. The most common Axis I and Axis II disorders in the patient group were major depression in 8 (17.4%) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder in 10 (21.7%) patients, respectively. It was found that major depression (p=0.021), generalized anxiety disorder (p=0.026) and obsessive- compulsive personality disorder (p=0.001) were more prevalent in the BPPV group compared with the control group.

Results suggest that psychiatric disturbances should be carefully checked in patients with BPPV due to the relatively high rate of comorbidity.