Vitamin D Supplementation for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Systematic Review

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is commonly attributed to displaced otoconia. These have been shown to have biomineralization close to that of bone, and vitamin D deficiency has been associated with BPPV. We aim to systematically review the available literature on vitamin D supplementation and BPPV intensity and recurrence in adults.

PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Current Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov.

We systematically reviewed the available literature from 1947 to April 2020. The study protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (trial registration: CRD42020183195).

A total of 179 abstracts were identified and screened by two independent reviewers. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, six studies were selected and subjected to a quality assessment. In one randomized clinical trial (RCT), vitamin D supplementation was found to reduce annual recurrence rate of vertigo in patient with BPPV and subnormal serum vitamin D levels compared with placebo (odds ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.90). Non-RCTs demonstrated the possibility of a null effect in the random effects model (odds ratio, 0.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.00-1.56). The RCT considered as low risk of bias. All of the nonrandomized studies were assessed as serious risk of bias.

The intervention studies identified consistently demonstrated a decrease in BPPV recurrence with supplementation of vitamin D in patients with subnormal vitamin D levels. Although there is a paucity of high-quality studies, the present literature does highlight a role for optimization of vitamin D levels in patients with BPPV.