Dizziness in a community elderly population.

Dizziness was studied in 1,622 community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older who were interviewed as part of the Duke Epidemiologic Catchment Area study. The lifetime prevalence of dizziness (defined as severe enough to see a physician, to take a medication, or to interfere with daily activities) was 29.3%; the 1-year prevalence was 18.2%. When the subgroup with dizziness was compared with those who never suffered dizziness, using logistic regression, four variables displayed the strongest associations: a constructed variable of risk for multiple neurosensory deficits, a cardiovascular risk score, a depression symptom inventory, and perception of self as a nervous person. In this population, dizziness was not associated with increased risk of death or institutionalization at the 1-year follow up.