Thomas Probst1, Andreas Dinkel2, Gabriele Schmid-Mühlbauer3, Katharina Radziej4, Karina Limburg5, Christoph Pieh6, Claas Lahmann7. 1. Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany; Department of Psychology, Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany. Electronic address: Thomas.Probst@ur.de. 2. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: Andreas.Dinkel@mri.tum.de. 3. SchlaU Group, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: G.Schmid-Muehlbauer@schlau-schule.de. 4. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: Katharina.Radziej@mri.tum.de. 5. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: Karina.Limburg@mri.tum.de. 6. Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, Krems, Austria; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. Electronic address: Christoph.Pieh@donau-uni.ac.at. 7. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: Claas.Lahmann@mri.tum.de.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Vertigo symptoms can lead to more or less vertigo-related handicap. This longitudinal study investigated whether depression, anxiety, and/or somatization mediate the relationship between vertigo symptoms and vertigo-related handicap. METHODS: N=111 patients with vertigo/dizziness provided complete data on the following measures: Vertigo symptoms at baseline, depression at 6-month follow-up, anxiety at 6-month follow-up, somatization at 6-month follow-up, and vertigo handicap at 12-month follow-up. Mediation analyses with bootstrapping were performed to investigate the mediating role of anxiety, depression, and somatization in the relationship between vertigo symptoms and vertigo-related handicap. RESULTS: When the mediating role of anxiety, depression, and somatization was evaluated separately from each other in single mediation models, the effect vertigo symptoms at baseline exerted on vertigo-related handicap at 12-month follow-up was significantly mediated by depression at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05), by anxiety at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05), as well as by somatization at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05). When statistically controlling for the other mediators in a multiple mediator model, only depression at 6-month follow-up mediated the effect of vertigo symptoms at baseline on vertigo-related handicap at 12-month follow-up (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Psychological distress is an important mechanism in the process how vertigo symptoms lead to vertigo-related handicap.
OBJECTIVE: Vertigo symptoms can lead to more or less vertigo-related handicap. This longitudinal study investigated whether depression, anxiety, and/or somatization mediate the relationship between vertigo symptoms and vertigo-related handicap. METHODS: N=111 patients with vertigo/dizziness provided complete data on the following measures: Vertigo symptoms at baseline, depression at 6-month follow-up, anxiety at 6-month follow-up, somatization at 6-month follow-up, and vertigo handicap at 12-month follow-up. Mediation analyses with bootstrapping were performed to investigate the mediating role of anxiety, depression, and somatization in the relationship between vertigo symptoms and vertigo-related handicap. RESULTS: When the mediating role of anxiety, depression, and somatization was evaluated separately from each other in single mediation models, the effect vertigo symptoms at baseline exerted on vertigo-related handicap at 12-month follow-up was significantly mediated by depression at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05), by anxiety at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05), as well as by somatization at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05). When statistically controlling for the other mediators in a multiple mediator model, only depression at 6-month follow-up mediated the effect of vertigo symptoms at baseline on vertigo-related handicap at 12-month follow-up (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Psychological distress is an important mechanism in the process how vertigo symptoms lead to vertigo-related handicap.