Factors Associated with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Chinese Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common and most successfully treated vestibular disorders. However, there is a lack of predictive factors for BPPV in clinical practice. We aimed to explore several possible predictive factors for BPPV in the Chinese population. MATERIAL/METHODS: We enrolled 240 patients with BPPV from Beijing Chaoyang Hospital between July 2013 and July 2016. Biochemical and hematological markers were obtained along with the history of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. RESULTS: Serum uric acid (SUA) [279.0±84.7 vs. 331.0±82.7], hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) [5.75±1.17 vs. 6.61±1.00], albumin [38.1±3.71 vs. 40.9±4.1], and creatinine [68.4±19.3 vs. 81.5±24.1] were significantly lower in patients with BPPV compared with controls (P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that lower levels of HbA1c and albumin were independently associated with BPPV (P<0.05), with odds ratio (OR) 0.680 (95% CI 0.551–0.839) and 0.338 (95% CI 0.190–0.603), respectively. However, the level of SUA was not independently related with BPPV [OR=0.999 (95% CI 0.991–1.006), P=0.713]. There were no significant differences between the parameters of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, blood routine examination, lipid profiles, homocysteine, pre-albumin, and blood urea nitrogen in patients with BPPV vs. controls (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lower levels of HbA1c and albumin were independently associated with BPPV. Although the level of SUA was lower in BPPV patients, SUA was not an independent risk factor for BPPV.