• Peng Liu, Shaolin Ma, Guixiang Du, Shengde Sun, Xin Zhang, Peng Tang, Chen Hou, Yue Liu, Jiaxing Zhao, Xiaohui Zhang, Li Chen, Chaochao Gu, Lina Zhang, Li Chong, Xu Yang, and Rui Li.
• Vertigo and Dizziness Center, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, No. 256 Youyi Rd., Xi'an, 710068, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Oct 1; 36 (10): 306430703064-3070.

BackgroundSingle disciplinary management of patients with vertigo and dizziness is an important challenge for most physicians in China.ObjectiveTo assess the impact of a new paradigm of practice (Clinic for Vertigo and Dizziness, CVD) performed by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) on diagnostic spectrum, medical costs, and patient satisfaction.DesignRetrospective before-after study.ParticipantsSample of 29,793 patients with vertigo/dizziness as primary complaint.MeasuresChanges in diagnostic spectrum, medical costs, and patient satisfaction before and after the establishment of a CVD based on a 4-year database in three tertiary hospitals in northwestern China.Key ResultsThe most common diagnoses of patients with vertigo and dizziness were Meniere's disease (25.77%), cervical disease (25.00%), cerebral vascular disease (13.96%), vestibular syndrome (10.57%), and other etiologies (6.34%) before the CVD establishment. In contrast, after the CVD establishment, the most common diagnoses were BPPV (23.92%), vestibular migraine (15.83%), Meniere's disease (14.22%), CSD/PPPD (11.61%), and cerebral vascular diseases (4.45%). Extended implementation of a structured questionnaire for vertigo/dizziness and vestibular-oriented examinations (nystagmus, positional tests, HINTS) at the CVD resulted in a remarkable decline in the utility of CT/MRI and X-ray examination (p < 0.001). Meanwhile, medical costs in patients with vertigo/dizziness dropped by 11.5% (p < 0.001), with a significant improvement in patient satisfaction after the establishment of CVD (p < 0.001).Conclusions And RelevanceOur study suggested that the MDT paradigm of CVD practice may facilitate the medical management of patients with vertigo/dizziness and improve patient satisfaction.© 2021. Society of General Internal Medicine.

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