Serum Vitamin D Level and Clinical Risk Factors for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

To identify the most prevalent comorbidities and the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels that affect the onset and recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

This is a prospective cross-sectional descriptive study.

The study was conducted at Hospital Universitario "Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez" in Monterrey, Mexico.

A total of 117 patients over 18 years old who came for the first time to consultation complaining of dizziness and/or vertigo compatible with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo were included. Patients with positive vertiginous symptoms evoked with diagnostic test maneuvers were treated. A complete medical history was registered, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory was applied, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D serum levels were measured.

From a total of 70 patients, the most prevalent comorbidities present were arterial hypertension (37.6%) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (29.1%). The most common cause of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo was idiopathic (67.5%), while in the secondary group, sudden neurosensorial hearing loss was the most common condition (6%). The mean average serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 23.07 ng/ml, and insufficiency (42.9%) was the most common serum level present in the population of the study.

The comorbidities identified in this study, along with the deficiency levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, were factors associated with BPPV in our cohort and may have contributed to the onset and recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo; thus, we suggest that prospective studies should address this possible association and, if so, treat it to accomplish an effective treatment.