title: Psychological distress longitudinally mediates the effect of vertigo symptoms on vertigo-related handicap.
abstract: Vertigo symptoms can lead to more or less vertigo-related handicap. This longitudinal study investigated whether depression, anxiety, and/or somatization mediate the relationship between vertigo symptoms and vertigo-related handicap.
  
  
  
  N=111 patients with vertigo/dizziness provided complete data on the following measures: Vertigo symptoms at baseline, depression at 6-month follow-up, anxiety at 6-month follow-up, somatization at 6-month follow-up, and vertigo handicap at 12-month follow-up. Mediation analyses with bootstrapping were performed to investigate the mediating role of anxiety, depression, and somatization in the relationship between vertigo symptoms and vertigo-related handicap.
  
  
  
  When the mediating role of anxiety, depression, and somatization was evaluated separately from each other in single mediation models, the effect vertigo symptoms at baseline exerted on vertigo-related handicap at 12-month follow-up was significantly mediated by depression at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05), by anxiety at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05), as well as by somatization at 6-month follow-up (p<0.05). When statistically controlling for the other mediators in a multiple mediator model, only depression at 6-month follow-up mediated the effect of vertigo symptoms at baseline on vertigo-related handicap at 12-month follow-up (p<0.05).
  
  
  
  Psychological distress is an important mechanism in the process how vertigo symptoms lead to vertigo-related handicap.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany; Department of Psychology, Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany. Electronic address: Thomas.Probst@ur.de.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: Andreas.Dinkel@mri.tum.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dinkel
authors.affiliation: SchlaU Group, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: G.Schmid-Muehlbauer@schlau-schule.de.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schmid-Mühlbauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: Katharina.Radziej@mri.tum.de.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radziej
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: Karina.Limburg@mri.tum.de.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Limburg
authors.affiliation: Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, Krems, Austria; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. Electronic address: Christoph.Pieh@donau-uni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technichal University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: Claas.Lahmann@mri.tum.de.
authors.forename: Claas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lahmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014717:Vertigo / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Dizziness; Somatization; Vertigo