Dizziness in older people.

Patients use the term dizziness to describe a sensation of altered orientation in space. Because visual, proprioceptive, somatosensory and vestibular signals provide the main information about the position of the head and body in space, damage to any of these systems can lead to a complaint of dizziness. Changes in the brain centers that integrate these orienting signals can also result in a sensation of dizziness. This review focuses on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of the common causes of dizziness in older people.