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Is there a link between dizziness and vision? A systematic review
Armstrong, Deborah Charlesworth, Emily Alderson, Alison J.
Armstrong, Deborah
Charlesworth, Emily
Alderson, Alison J.
Publication Date
2016-07
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© 2016 The Authors Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics published by
John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of College of Optometrists.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2016-03-03
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Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature to investigate
the link (if any) between vision and dizziness.
Methods: Medline, CINAHL, AMED, Web of Science and The Cochrane Library
were searched with keywords chosen to find articles which investigated the causes
of dizziness and considered vision as a possible trigger. Citation chaining of all
included papers was performed in addition to the hand searching of all reference
lists. Unpublished literature was identified using www.opengrey.eu. The review
considered studies involving adults which link, measure or attempt to improve
any aspect of vision in relation to dizziness.
Results: Nine thousand six hundred and eighty one possible references were
found, and the abstracts were screened independently by two reviewers to determine
if they should be included in the study. Thirteen papers were found which
investigated whether dizziness was linked to an assessment of vision. Visual
impairment measures were crude and typically self-report, or Snellen visual acuity
with little or no measurement details. Five studies found an independent link
between dizziness and vision, five found a weak association (typically finding a
link when univariate analyses were used, but not when multivariate analyses were
used), and three found no association. Studies finding a strong link were usually
cross-sectional with a large study population whereas those finding a weak association
had relatively small numbers of participants. Studies which did not find an
association used a broad definition of dizziness that included the term light-headedness,
an unreliable Rosenbaum near visual acuity chart or an unusual categorisation
of visual acuity.
Conclusions: This review suggests that dizziness (although likely not ‘light-headedness’)
is linked with poor vision although further studies using more appropriate
measures of vision are recommended.
Version
Published version
Citation
Armstrong D, Charlesworth E, Alderson AJ and Elliott DB (2016) Is there a link between
dizziness and vision? A systematic review. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 36(4): 477-486.
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Article