Poor sleep quality worsens vertigo in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: Study

A recent study published in the Nature and Science of Sleep found that poor sleep quality significantly increases the severity of vertigo in individuals suffering from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), with anxiety and depression playing an important mediating role.

Based on baseline data from a large cohort of 1,056 BPPV patients in Northwest China, this study highlights the complex interplay between sleep disturbances and vertigo severity. Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) for vertigo severity, and various psychological assessment scales like the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), this study conducted detailed statistical modeling to understand the associations.

The study found patients who reported poor sleep were more than twice as likely to experience severe vertigo symptoms when compared to the individuals with adequate sleep (Odds Ratio: 2.024; 95% CI: 1.571–2.608). Moreover, there was a clear dose-response relationship; as PSQI scores rose above 7, which indicates worsened sleep quality and increased vertigo symptoms in parallel.

The mediation analyses revealed that psychological distress significantly influenced the link between sleep and vertigo. Anxiety accounted for 28.5% of the mediating effect, depression for 38%, and the HADS scale as a combined psychological index explained 37.7% of the association. This means that sleep quality does not just affect vertigo directly, it does so largely through its impact on the mental health of patients.