title: Dizziness as a geriatric condition among rural community-dwelling older adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dizziness is a common symptom in older adults. The majority of those with dizziness tend to have more than one risk factor, suggesting that dizziness is a multifactorial geriatric condition. Therefore, associated factors must be determined to permit risk-reduction approaches.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the associations between dizziness and socio-demographic, physical, functional and psychological health factors among older persons living in the Andes Mountains.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand six hundred ninety-two community-living people aged 60 years and over living in four rural and suburban areas of villages in coffee-grower zones in the Colombian Andes Mountains.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outcome measures included self-reporting of dizziness as a symptom experienced either very frequently or continuously during the last month. Independent variables were demographic, socioeconomic and social factors; disease and biomedical factors; functional status and performance-based measures; and psychological factors such as depressive symptoms and self-rated health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dizziness was reported by 15.2% of participants in the study. Variables independently associated with dizziness were: number of chronic conditions, visual impairment, and use of more than four medications. Independently associated psychological variables were: poor self-perceived health, cognitive impairment and depression. Health and psychological factors accounted for 85% of dizziness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older persons who reported dizziness were more physically frail, with more instances of chronic conditions and sensory impairments, and had poor self-perceptions of their health. Biomedical and psychological factors showed a strong independent association with dizziness. A multifactorial intervention targeting the identified factors would reduce dizziness in older people. However, this approach may need to address different sets of specific factors related to the dizziness categories.
authors.affiliation: Research Group on Geriatrics and Gerontology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Curcio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duque
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D004244:Dizziness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D019338:Polypharmacy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D057566:Self Report; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000150:complications*