Martha Valdivia-Muñoz, Servicio de Audiología y Otoneurología, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Dr. Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Marla Trujillo-Bracamontes, Servicio de Audiología y Otoneurología, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Dr. Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Miguel Cervantes-Arenas, Servicio de Audiología y Otoneurología, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Dr. Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Ma. del Consuelo Martínez-Wbaldo, Unidad de Investigación Sociomédica. Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, Ciudad de México, México
Background: Vestibular pathology includes a set of diseases with symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, and instability that require specialized medical attention. They are associated with the female sex and increasing age. In Mexico, tertiary care is centralized in urban areas, which limits its access, the prevalence of these pathologies at this level and its association with other sociodemographic variables is little reported. Objective: To describe the prevalence of different types of vestibular pathology diagnosed and classified according to ICD-11 over 10 years and measure its association with sociodemographic variables. Method: Observational, retrospective, and analytical, 1,780 first-time consultation files were studied between 2011 and 2021 that met the inclusion criteria, including seven sociodemographic variables. The study was authorized by the Institutional Research Committee, and the analysis was done with the SPSS V.19 package using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Results: The prevalence of that period was 7.24% and ten pathologies were identified, predominating chronic idiopathic unilateral vestibulopathy, all associated with the female sex and increasing age; six sociodemographic variables were associated with these pathologies. The variability of the prevalence depends on the level of care and the classification used, those reported in tertiary hospitals are between 0.8 and 35%, including in this range the prevalence obtained, the most frequently diagnosed pathology is idiopathic chronic unilateral vestibulopathy due to the no specificity of the symptoms, the association of some sociodemographic variables with various vestibulopathies was obtained. Conclusions: The classification is essential for the comparison of results. Benign paroxystic positional vertigo, referred as the most frequent in the literature, occupies second place in this study. Female sex and increasing age are associated with these pathologies as well as some sociodemographic variables.
Keywords: Vestibular pathology. Demographic factors. Epidemiology. Prevalence.