Emilija Paukštytė¹, Aistė Paškonienė²

¹Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

²Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics

Abstract

Background: Depression or anxiety disorders are common in patients with dizziness. They often express fear of recurring new episodes, resulting in the greatest impact on their quality of life, independence, and insomnia or other sleep disorders. Some of these patients are taking antidepressants, but the link between taking these medications and complaints remains unclear. Aim: to find out what level of depression is characteristic to these patients, what part of the them are taking antidepressants. Methods: 2020-2021 from October to January in Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics Ear, Nose and Throat Disease Center we developed questionnaire survey of 87 patients reporting dizziness. The survey asked patients’ age, gender, antidepressant use, and the depression level was determined using a 20-point Zung self – rating – depression scale. Data was analyzed using MS Excel and R Commander programs. Pearson correlation, ANOVA tests were used. The results were considered statistically significant when p <0.05. Pubmed, Cochrane Library databases were used for literature analysis. Conclusions: Statistically significant levels of depression were not observed in patients reporting dizziness. The level of depression differs significantly between those who are already taking antidepressants and those who are not. Keywords: Zung Depression Scale, antidepressants, dizziness.