Abstract
Diphenidol and betahistine are anti-vertigo medications used for the treatment of vertiginous disorders. In the present study, we compared the therapeutic effects of diphenidol and betahistine on the handicap in daily life due to vertigo in patients with acute vertigo. The administration of diphenidol for four weeks significantly decreased the scores for factor 1: handicap in social activities, factor 2: handicap in head movements, factor 3: handicap in body movements, factor 4: handicap in emotion, factor 5: handicap in human interactions and factor 6: handicap due to discomfort. Because diphenidol has both anti-vertigo and anti-emetic actions, these findings suggested that its administration for four weeks recovered the functional handicap associated with factors 2 and 3 and the discomfort handicap of factor 6, resulting in recovery of the social handicap in factors 1 and 5 and emotional handicap (factor 4) in patients with vertigo. On the other hand, the administration of betahistine for four weeks only significantly decreased the scores of factors 1 and 5. This finding suggested that long-term administration of betahistine may be necessary to recover the other factors associated with handicap in patients with vertigo, because betahistine is reported to gradually accelerate the process of vestibular compensation after the development of vestibular asymmetry.
