This study compared 50 patients presenting to an otolaryngology clinic
with a complaint of dizziness and 50 patients presenting with hearing loss
on questionnaire measures of panic, phobic avoidance, generalized anxiety,
and depression. Clinical and laboratory evaluations of vestibular and
audiological complaints were also completed. Twenty percent of the group
with dizziness and none of the group with hearing loss reported symptoms
that met DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder. Patients with dizziness and
peripheral vestibulopathy had more symptoms of phobic avoidance,
generalized anxiety, and depression than patients with confirmed hearing
loss.Abstract Teaser