Anxiety Linked to Dizziness in Vestibular Schwannoma

TUESDAY, Oct. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS), those with anxiety have more severe dizziness, according to a study published online Oct. 2 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Tyler Wilson, from Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues examined the baseline features of adults diagnosed with VS associated with subjective dizziness in a retrospective cohort study involving 109 patients who completed vestibular testing between June 2004 and January 2025. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) was used to measure baseline dizziness.

The mean DHI score was 27 points in the cohort. The researchers found that the DHI score was 13.7 points higher for participants with a history of anxiety compared with those with no such history. The DHI score increased 2.6 points for every additional point in severity of anxiety measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. After controlling for covariates, the DHI score increased by a mean of 1.9 points for every one-point increase in the GAD-7. Patients with versus without a history of anxiety had a DHI score 10.6 points higher on average.

“This cohort study found that dizziness is a significant clinical factor associated with quality of life in patients with VS,” the authors write. “Dizziness is often unreported by referring physicians and should be assessed when suspecting a diagnosis of VS.”

Several authors disclosed ties to industry.

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