Chronic Dizziness and Positional Symptoms: An Exploration of Symptom Clusters and Participant-Reported Experiences

Area of Science:

• Vestibular Disorders
• Symptom Cluster Analysis
• Mixed-Methods Research

Background:

• Chronic dizziness presents a complex clinical challenge.
• Understanding symptom patterns is crucial for effective diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively describe symptom cluster assignments in chronic dizziness patients.
• To qualitatively explore patient-reported themes within the most common symptom cluster.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective hybrid explanatory mixed-methods design.
• Analysis of an artificial intelligence dizziness triage questionnaire from 791 participants.
• Qualitative coding of themes from 50 participants in the dominant symptom cluster.

Main Results:

• Identified 301 symptom cluster combinations.
• Females had more clusters; age and duration of symptoms influenced cluster prevalence.
• "Positional" was the most frequent cluster, with themes of physical, cognitive, triggers, temporal aspects, management, and emotions.

Conclusions:

• Chronic dizziness is highly complex and variable.
• Integrated patient assessments combining questionnaires, clinical judgment, and dialogue are essential.
• Improved diagnostic and management strategies are needed.