PREVALENCE OF PERSISTENT POSTURAL – PERCEPTUAL DIZZINESS AMONG HEALTH SCIENCE STUDENTS

S. Hariharasudan¹, V. Pavithra¹

¹KG College of Physiotherapy, Physiotherapy, Coimbatore, India

Background: Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a chronic functional disorder of the nervous system, characterised by non-spinning vertigo and perceived unsteadiness. PPPD is not a psychiatric diagnosis, but a functional diagnosis, and it is being proposed that the former more generic term of “psychogenic dizziness”. The symptoms are exacerbated when patients assume upright postures and in situations with complex or moving visual stimuli. Patients often develop secondary functional gait disorder, anxiety, avoidance behaviour and severe disability. Although PPPD has been studied in adults it is also common in children. A high proportion of patients reported initially missing school or work due to their symptoms.

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to find the prevalence of Persistent Postural – Perceptual Dizziness among Health Science Students.

Methods: The study was conducted at the outpatient department of K.G College of Physiotherapy, Coimbatore. 101 Health Science students were assessed for Persistent Postural – Perceptual Dizziness with Bárány Society diagnostic criteria, the diagnosis of PPPD requires all Bárány Society criteria to be fulfilled. Thus, making the diagnosis relies on the patient history. Dizziness, unsteadiness and vertigo are notoriously difficult to describe and students were offered with various reports of symptoms, including non-spinning vertigo (“I feel a sense of motion – it’s not whirling – even though I'm still”; “I feel as if my body is swaying like I’m on a boat”), unsteadiness (“I feel I’m about to fall”), light-headedness (“I feel as if I might pass out”) and mild dissociation (“I feel spaced out/as if my legs are spongy/as if I'm floating”). The demographic and discomfort are being analysed using descriptive statistics, and the results were expressed as a percentage.

Results: Out of 101 students, 21 students (20.79%) had been found to have Persistent Postural – Perceptual Dizziness according to the Bárány Society diagnostic criteria.

Conclusions: Persistent postural perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a common chronic functional disorder that presents with dizziness and light headedness. Diagnosis is made by taking a characteristic medical history, so that we can able to identify the functional diagnosis of PPPD.

Implications: PPPD may coexist with structural vestibular disorders, other neurological and general medical conditions, and psychiatric disorders that cause vertigo, light headedness. Successful communication of the diagnosis is an essential basis for further rehabilitation.

Funding acknowledgements: No funding was involved in this study.

Keywords:
Persistent Postural Perceptual dizziness
Prevalence
Health Science Students

Topics:
Neurology
Disability & rehabilitation
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: KG HOSPITAL, COIMBATORE

Committee: IEC

Ethics number: KGHEC00289/2022