Supplementary Material for: Do Individuals complaints Vertigo or Dizziness have Tendency to Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine Approaches? A Case Control Study

Introduction: Dizziness and vertigo are prevalent reasons for medical consultation, stemming from various benign and pathological conditions. Although traditional treatments are available, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches are increasingly sought by patients for almost all diseases. This study aimed to investigate the use of CAM approaches in individuals with and without vertigo/dizziness and to compare the results.
Methods: The study enrolled 208 participants, 104 of them had complaints with vertigo/dizziness (patient group) and the remain was without such symptoms (control group). All participants were queried about used CAM approaches and vestibular assessments were performed.
Results: Significantly higher prevalence of herbal supplement use was observed in individuals with vertigo/dizziness complaints compared to without vertigo/dizziness. However, no significant differences were found in the usage of other CAM approaches between the groups. The majority of the CAM users in the patient group did not use CAM approaches to relieve vertigo/dizziness symptoms.
Conclusions: This study contributes to a better understanding of CAM utilization patterns among vertigo/dizziness patients and underscores the importance of further research to explore the efficacy and safety of CAM approaches in managing these symptoms. Future studies should consider socioeconomic and sociocultural factors affecting the use of CAM approaches and aim to evaluate the effectiveness of specific CAM approaches in the treatment of vertigo/dizziness.