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Murphy BL, Fischer JL, Tolisano AM, Navarro AI, Trinh L, Abuzeid WM, Humphreys IM, Akbar NA, Shah S, Schneider JS, Riley CA, McCoul ED. How Do Patients and Otolaryngologists Define Dizziness? Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 2024; 133:512-518. [PMID: 38375799 DOI: 10.1177/00034894241233949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess for differences in how patients and otolaryngologists define the term dizziness. METHODS Between June 2020 and December 2022, otolaryngology clinicians and consecutive patients at 5 academic otolaryngology institutions across the United States were asked to define the term "dizziness" by completing a semantics-based questionnaire containing 20 common descriptors of the term within 5 symptom domains (imbalance-related, lightheadedness-related, motion-related, vision-related, and pain-related). The primary outcome was differences between patient and clinician perceptions of dizzy-related symptoms. Secondary outcomes included differences among patient populations by geographic location. RESULTS Responses were obtained from 271 patients and 31 otolaryngologists. Patients and otolaryngologists selected 7.7 ± 3.5 and 7.1 ± 4.3 symptoms, respectively. Most patients (266, 98.2%) selected from more than 1 domain and 17 (6.3%) patients identified symptoms from all 5 domains. Patients and clinicians were equally likely to define dizziness using terms from the imbalance (difference, -2.3%; 95% CI, -13.2%, 8.6%), lightheadedness (-14.1%; -29.2%, 1.0%), and motion-related (9.4; -0.3, 19.1) domains. Patients were more likely to include terms from the vision-related (23.6%; 10.5, 36.8) and pain-related (18.2%; 10.3%, 26.1%) domains. There were minor variations in how patients defined dizziness based on geographic location. CONCLUSIONS Patients and otolaryngologists commonly described dizziness using symptoms related to imbalance, lightheadedness, and motion. Patients were more likely to use vision or pain-related terms. Understanding of these semantic differences may enable more effective patient-clinician communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianna L Murphy
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jakob L Fischer
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Anthony M Tolisano
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Alvaro I Navarro
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Lily Trinh
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Waleed M Abuzeid
- Division of Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ian M Humphreys
- Division of Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nadeem A Akbar
- Division of Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Sharan Shah
- Division of Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - John S Schneider
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Charles A Riley
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Edward D McCoul
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans, LA, USA
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