Incidence of peripheral vestibular disorders based on population data of South Korea

BACKGROUND: There have been no comprehensive studies on the incidence of peripheral vestibular disorders based on population-based data for a long-term period. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the incidence of peripheral vestibular disorders using population-based data representing the whole population of South Korea. METHODS: This study used the National Health Insurance Service data in Korea from 2008 to 2020. Peripheral vestibular disorders such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis (VN), and Meniere’s disease (MD) were defined with diagnostic, treatment, or audiovestibular test codes. The annual incidence in total and according to sex, age, and residence was analyzed. RESULTS: The annual incidence of BPPV, VN, and MD per 100,000 was 51.4, 22.7, and 12.4 in 2008 and 181.1, 62.9, and 50.5 in 2020, respectively. The incidence of each was significantly different by sex (p <  0.001), age (p <  0.001), and residence (p <  0.001), with the highest value in female, people aged 60 years or older, and people who resided in metropolitan cities. CONCLUSIONS: The annual incidence of BPPV, VN, and MD had increasing trends from 2008 through 2020 in South Korea, and all were significantly higher in female, people aged 60 years or older, and people who resided in metropolitan cities.