Identifying drugs that cause dizziness.

OBJECTIVE: To present an alternative technique for identification side effects of drugs.
BACKGROUND: Drugs are commonly thought to cause dizziness but traditional methods of associating drugs with the symptom may be insensitive. A "reverse" method of identifying associations between dizziness and drugs is illustrated. The technique could be generally applied to other side effects.
METHODS: Medication use was recorded for one hundred two patients who presented with dizziness. After dividing the medications into pharmaceutical categories the percent of dizzy patients taking the drugs was contrasted with the percent of the population as a whole taking the same categories based on a large national drug database.
FINDINGS: Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were more likely to be associated with dizziness than other medications.
CONCLUSION: The reverse association method outlined may be helpful in identifying medications and side effects.