Dizziness as a geriatric condition among rural community-dwelling older adults

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition, health & aging health & aging, 2011-06, Vol.15 (6), p.490-497
• Main Authors: Gomez, F., Curcio, C.L., Duque, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aging; Biological and medical sciences; Chronic Disease; Cognition Disorders - complications; Colombia - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - complications; Dizziness - epidemiology; Dizziness - etiology; Dizziness - psychology; Dizziness as a Geriatric Condition Among Rural Community-Dwelling Older Adults; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Frail Elderly; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Health Status; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Neurosciences; Non tumoral diseases; Nutrition; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Perception; Polypharmacy; Prevalence; Primary Care Medicine; Quality of Life Research; Risk Factors; Rural Population; Self Report; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vision Disorders - complications
• ISSN: 1279-7707; 1760-4788
• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-011-0050-4

Background Dizziness is a common symptom in older adults. The majority of those with dizziness tend to have more than one risk factor, suggesting that dizziness is a multifactorial geriatric condition. Therefore, associated factors must be determined to permit risk-reduction approaches. Objective To examine the associations between dizziness and socio-demographic, physical, functional and psychological health factors among older persons living in the Andes Mountains. Design Population-based cross-sectional study. Settings/Participants One thousand six hundred ninety-two community-living people aged 60 years and over living in four rural and suburban areas of villages in coffee-grower zones in the Colombian Andes Mountains. Measurements Outcome measures included self-reporting of dizziness as a symptom experienced either very frequently or continuously during the last month. Independent variables were demographic, socioeconomic and social factors; disease and biomedical factors; functional status and performance-based measures; and psychological factors such as depressive symptoms and self-rated health. Results Dizziness was reported by 15.2% of participants in the study. Variables independently associated with dizziness were: number of chronic conditions, visual impairment, and use of more than four medications. Independently associated psychological variables were: poor self-perceived health, cognitive impairment and depression. Health and psychological factors accounted for 85% of dizziness. Conclusion Older persons who reported dizziness were more physically frail, with more instances of chronic conditions and sensory impairments, and had poor self-perceptions of their health. Biomedical and psychological factors showed a strong independent association with dizziness. A multifactorial intervention targeting the identified factors would reduce dizziness in older people. However, this approach may need to address different sets of specific factors related to the dizziness categories.