Climatic Variations as Indicators of Vitamin D Levels and Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

Objective To investigate the possible correlation between benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), seasonality, and climatic variations as indicators of vitamin D deficiency, since otoconia are calcium carbonate crystals. Methods This is a study of patients who received the diagnosis of BPPV from September 2015 to August 2019. Gender, age, and month of diagnosis were factors recorded and analyzed. The cut-off age of 50 years is used to include osteoporotic patients and postmenopausal women. Meteorological and climatic data of latitude, temperature, sunshine hours, humidity, precipitation, wind force, atmospheric pressure, and horizontal solar irradiance were collected. Results Four hundred and eighty-five patients were included in the study; 206 were male (42%) and 279 were female (58%). The mean age was 57.8±15.4 and 54.9±13.9, respectively; 192 patients were ≤50 years old (121 female and 71 male) and 293 patients were over 50 years old (135 male and 158 female). A statistical significance in seasonal variation during autumn months was demonstrated (p-value= 5.2 e-05, z-statistic: 9.8164). There was no statistical correlation between the median number of BPPV patients and the median sunshine hours per month, horizontal solar irradiance, or other climatic variables. Conclusions Our study demonstrates seasonality in BPPV patients in Greece but no correlation between BPPV and climatic variations as a proxy for Vitamin-D levels was documented.