Serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D correlate with idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH) D) levels in Chinese patients with idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and to investigate the possible relationship between the occurrence and recurrence of idiopathic BPPV and low 25(OH) D levels. Methods: Between 1 January 2017 and 31 May, 2018, consecutively older patients (age, older than 50 years) with idiopathic BPPV were recruited in the present study. For each patient, 2:1 sex and age matched healthy people were assigned as the control group. The influence of 25(OH) D levels on BPPV and recurrent BPPV were performed by binary logistic regression analysis. Results: In the present study, 174 patients with BPPV and 348 controls were included. The serum levels of 25(OH) D in those patients were lower than in those controls (P<0.001). One hundred eight patients were found to have vitamin D deficiency; thus, the prevalence was 62.1%, which was higher than that in the controls (42.8%). The data showed that patients with recurrent BPPV (N = 31) had lower serum levels of 25(OH) D compared with those who were not (11.2 ng/ml [interquartile range, 7.2–20.8 ng/ml] vs 18.7 ng/ml [14.2–24.8 ng/ml]). The regression analyses demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency was associated with BPPV and recurrent BPPV with an odds ratio of 2.15 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30–4.32; P=0.006) and 5.16 (95% CI, 1.00–34.12; P=0.05). Conclusion: Decreased serum levels of 25(OH)D were associated with the occurrence and recurrence of BPPV in a Chinese population, independent of other baseline markers.