title: Dietary modification as adjunct treatment in Ménière's disease: patient willingness and ability to comply.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate ease of use and compliance with dietary modification in the treatment of vertigo in patients with Ménière's disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mailed patient retrospective questionnaire and chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral neurotologic private practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  136 patients with Ménière's who returned a mailed questionnaire. Mean age at first clinic visit was 53 years, and at questionnaire was 62 years, with 54.4% female subjects. Median initial hearing was AAO-HNS Stage 1. Most patients also received diuretics and/or other treatments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reduced sodium and caffeine-free diet.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ratings of diet difficulty, length of use, compliance level and nutritional understanding, and AAO-HNS vertigo class and functional rating before and with nutritional intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  46.3% of the respondents received written diet guidelines; only 3.2% were referred for nutritional counseling, and another 7.8% sought counseling independently. 77.8% and 84.7% rated a low sodium and a caffeine-free diet, respectively, as manageable or easy to follow; 77.9% followed the diet for 1 year or greater, but only 10.3% could list 5 "correct" foods to eat and 26% 5 foods to avoid. Those who followed the diet greater than 6 months had larger improvement in number of spells and functional rating and a higher rate of Class A/B vertigo outcome (p ≤ 0.01, p = 0.012, and p = 0.038, respectively). Knowledge of foods to eat and avoid correlated with vertigo class (rho = -0.21, p ≤ 0.029 and rho = -0.26, p ≤ 0.01, respectively); the more foods correctly listed, the better the AAO-HNS class).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nutrition education by referral to a registered dietitian may improve outcomes in the medical treatment of Ménière's disease.
authors: *VA Medical Center, Los Angeles; †House Research Institute, Marina del Rey; ‡Nutrition and Dietetics, California State University, Long Beach; and §House Clinic and House Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
authors: Emily
authors: E
authors: Luxford
authors: Karen I
authors: KI
authors: Berliner
authors: Jacqueline
authors: J
authors: Lee
authors: William M
authors: WM
authors: Luxford
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome