The Intra-Examiner Variability in and Accuracy of Traditional Manual Diagnostics of Benign Paroxysmal Positional...

Background/Objectives: Accurate head positioning is essential for diagnostics of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). This study aimed to quantify the head angles and angular velocities during traditional manual BPPV diagnostics in patients with positional vertigo. Methods: A prospective, observational cohort study was conducted at a tertiary university hospital outpatient clinic. One trained examiner performed the Supine Roll Test (SRT) and the Dix-Hallpike test (DHT) on 198 adults with positional vertigo. The primary outcomes included head angle variability and accuracy and angular velocity variability. The secondary outcomes examined the relationship between the head angle accuracy and participant-reported limitations. Results: The absolute variability for all head angles ranged from ±8.7° to ±11.0°. The yaw axis head angles during the DHT, particularly on the left side, had the highest relative variability (left DHT: coefficient of variance 0.29). Systematic errors included the yaw axis head angles undershooting the target (90°) by 19.7-23.8° during the SRT and the pitch axis head angles undershooting the target (120°) by 7.8-8.7° during the DHT. The left-sided yaw axis in the DHT was undershot by 11.8°, while the right-sided DHT angle was slightly overshot (2.5°). Right-sided yaw axis angles in the SRT and DHT were more accurate than the left-sided ones (right SRT: 19.9°; left SRT: 23.9°; p < 0.0001) (right DHT: 7.0°; left DHT: 13.2°; p < 0.0001). The regression analysis found no association between the participant-reported limitations and head angle accuracy. Conclusions: This study highlights the substantial variability and inaccuracies in head positioning during traditional manual BPPV diagnostics, supporting the relevance of a guidance system to improve BPPV diagnostics. Level of evidence: III. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05846711.