Objective: A prospective study conducted at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, to study the psychological factors in cases of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and to compare them with patients with psychogenic vertigo.
Methods: In the present study, 75 subjects each (25-45 years) with BPPV and psychogenic vertigo were compared with an equal number of age- and sex-matched normal controls using the psychological and audiovestibular test batteries.
Results: The psychological variables tested, namely, loneliness, depression, anxiety components, introversion, and social desirability, were found to be statistically significant (p < .01) for the three groups (i.e., BPPV, psychogenic, and control). There was no significant difference among the three groups on the audiovestibular measures.
Conclusion: Psychological factors play an important role in patients with BPPV. The provoking activities result in precipitation of an acute attack and the patients experience heightened emotionality because of the incapacitating feeling of severe vertigo.