A Systematic Review of Clinical Vestibular Symptom Triage, Tools, and Algorithms

The evaluation of peripheral vestibular disorders in clinical practice is an especially difficult endeavor, particularly for the inexperienced clinician. The goal of this systematic review is thus to evaluate the design, approaches, and outcomes for clinical vestibular symptom triage and decision support tools reported in contemporary published literature.

A comprehensive search of existing literature in August 2020 was conducted using MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE using terms of desired diagnostic tools such as algorithm, protocol, and questionnaire as well as an exhaustive set of terms to encompass vestibular disorders.

Study characteristics, tool metrics, and performance were extracted using a standardized form. Quality assessment was conducted using a modified version of the Quality of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2) assessment tool.

A total of 18 articles each reporting a novel tool for the evaluation of vestibular disorders were identified. Tools were organized into 3 discrete categories, including self-administered questionnaires, health care professional administered tools, and decision support systems. Most tools could differentiate between specific vestibular pathologies, with outcome measures including sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy.

A multitude of tools have been published to aid with the evaluation of vertiginous patients. Our systematic review identified several low-evidence reports of triage and decision support tools for the evaluation of vestibular disorders.