Table 1.
Study populations and characteristics of the included studies
| # | References | Publication title | Age range | Study design | N | Duration of follow-up (months) | Mean age | % female | Number of practices | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dros [17] | Functional prognosis of dizziness in older adults in primary care: a prospective cohort study | 65–95 | Cohort | 385, follow-up of #9 | 6 | 79 | 74 | 24 | Netherlands |
| 2 | Ekvall Hansson[43] | Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo among elderly patients in primary health care | 65–94 | Cross-sectional | 38 | NA | NR | 65.8 | NR | Sweden |
| 3 | Garrigues [21] | Epidemiological aspects of vertigo in the general population of the Autonomic Region of Valencia, Spain | 10+ | Cohort | 191 | 12 | 56 (17.6) | 68.6 | 6 | Spain |
| 4 | Hansson [22] | Balance performance and self-perceived handicap among dizzy patients in primary health care | 22–90 | Cross-sectional | 119 | NA | 61 | 61.3 | 1 | Sweden |
| 5 | Hansson [30] | Falls among dizzy patients in primary healthcare: an intervention study with control group | 65+ | Cohort | 27 | 12 | NR | NR | 6 | Sweden |
| 6 | Kruschinski [19] | A three-group comparison of acute-onset dizzy, long-term dizzy and non-dizzy older patients in primary care | 65–95 | Cross-sectional | Acute: 69 Chronic: 86 Baseline of #13 |
NA | NR | NR | 20 | Germany |
| 7 | Leong [23] | Primary assessment of the vertiginous patient at a pre-ENT balance clinic | Adults | Cross-sectional | 102 | NA | NR | NR | 1 | United Kingdom |
| 8 | Lin [24] | Otologic diagnoses in the elderly: current utilization and predicted workload increase | 65+ | Medical claims data | 4,480,000 | NA | 77 (0.7) | 63 | NA | USA |
| 9 | Maarsingh [18] | Causes of persistent dizziness in elderly patients in primary care | 65+ | Cross-sectional | 417, baseline of #1 | NA | 79 | 74 | 24 | Netherlands |
| 10 | Nazareth [25] | Patterns of presentations of dizziness in primary care–a cross-sectional cluster analysis study | 16–62 | Cross-sectional | 442 | NA | NR | NR | 2 | United Kingdom |
| 11 | Neuhauser [2] | Burden of dizziness and vertigo in the community | 18–79 | Cross-sectional | 1003 | NA | 44.9 (16.6) | 65.4 % | NA | Germany |
| 12 | Polensek [26] | Screening for vestibular disorders: a study of clinicians’ compliance with recommended practices | Adults | Cross-sectional | 157 | 6 | 60 (13.6) | 11.5 | 1 | USA |
| 13 | Sczepanek [20] | Newly diagnosed incident dizziness of older patients: a follow-up study in primary care | 65–95 | Cohort | 66, follow-up of acute cases of #6 | 6 | 76 (6.5) | 69.6 | 21 | Germany |
| 14 | Skoien [31] | Occupational disability caused by dizziness and vertigo: a register-based prospective study | 16–62 | Medical claims data | 1018 | NA | NR | 68.2 | NA | Norway |
| 15 | Tschan [27] | Persistence of symptoms in primary somatoform vertigo and dizziness: a disorder “lost” in health care? | Adults | Cohort | 65 | 36 | 48 (11.88) | 46.2 | NR | Germany |
| 16 | Yardley [28] | Clinical and cost effectiveness of booklet based vestibular rehabilitation for chronic dizziness in primary care: single blind, parallel group, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial | 18+ | Cohort (RCT) | 112 | 12 | 58 (15.8) | 75 | 35 | United Kingdom |
NA not applicable, NR not reported