Efficacy of betahistine plus cognitive behavioral therapy on residual dizziness after successful canalith repositioning procedure for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

BACKGROUND: Some patients still complain of residual dizziness after successful canalith repositioning procedure (CRP) for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Previous study found that compared to the low-dose betahistine, the high-dose betahistine could yield better efficacy in treating residual dizziness. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess whether the addition of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could make low-dose betahistine produce similar results to high-dose betahistine in treating residual dizziness. METHODS: The recruited patients were randomly assigned to receive either low-dose betahistine (6 mg/time, three times/day) or high-dose betahistine (12 mg/time, three times/day). Patients in the low-dose group also received CBT (twice a week, 1 hour per time). The treatment was continued for 4 weeks. The duration of residual dizziness, 25-item Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were recorded and analyzed. The duration of residual dizziness and DHI score were the primary outcomes, and the HARS and HDRS scores were the secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Each group had 50 patients. After treatment, the average DHI scores, HDRS scores, and HARS scores were significantly decreased in both groups. The duration of residual dizziness and average DHI score were nonsignificantly different (P=0.08; P=0.06) between the two groups, although they were lower in the low-dose group. Compared to the high-dose group, the low-dose group had the significantly lower average HDRS score (P=0.007) and HARS score (P=0.02). Meanwhile, four patients in the high-dose group experienced intolerable stomach upset. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that the addition of CBT could make low-dose beta-histine produce similar results to high-dose betahistine in treating residual dizziness. Moreover, the low-dose betahistine plus CBT showed some advantages over high-dose betahistine in relieving depressive and anxiety symptoms and should be further explored.