Association of Cervical Spondylosis With Peripheral Vertigo: A Case–Control Study

Objectives/Hypothesis: This study aimed to assess the association of prior cervical spondylosis (CS) with peripheral vertigo. Study Design: Case–control study. Methods: Data were retrieved from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. A total of 2,570 patients who were newly diagnosed with peripheral vertigo were identified. We compared them with a 3:1 ratio of propensity score–matched patients, 7,710 comparison patients from the same dataset. We performed multivariate logistic regressions to estimate the odds ratio for prior CS occurrence among peripheral vertigo patients versus controls. Results: Of 10,280 sample patients, 1,739 (16.92%) patients had CS prior to the index date. A significant difference in prior CS between peripheral vertigo patients and controls (19.49% vs. 16.06%, P <.001) was observed. Logistic regression analysis shows that the odds of prior CS was 1.285 for peripheral vertigo patients versus controls (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.143-1.446) after adjusting for age, sex, urbanization level, monthly income, geographic region, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and asthma. Prior CS with myelopathy was not associated with peripheral vertigo. Stratified analysis by age showed that the odds of CS were highest among patients with peripheral vertigo in the 45- to 64-year-old age group (1.442, 95% CI: 1.215-1.712). Conclusions: CS is associated with subsequent peripheral vertigo in the Taiwan population, with higher risk among those aged 45 to 64 years. Level of Evidence: 2b Laryngoscope, 2020.