Background and aims Symptoms of dizziness and pain are both common complaints and the two symptoms often seem to coincide. When symptoms appear concomitant for sustained periods of time the symptoms might maintain and even exacerbate each other, sometimes leading to psychological distress. In order to evaluate such comorbidity we studied patients referred to a vestibular unit and to a psychiatric outpatient clinic with respectively balance disorders and psychological issues. Methods Consecutive patients referred to a vestibular unit (n = 49) and a psychiatric outpatient clinic (n = 62) answered the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) questionnaire and a questionnaire detailing occurrence of dizziness and pain. Results The experience of dizziness and pain often coincided within individuals across both clinical populations, especially if the pain was located to the neck/shoulder or the back (p = 0.006). Patients who reported dizziness had significantly more often pain (p = 0.024); in the head (p = 0.002), neck/shoulders (p = 0.003) and feet (p = 0.043). Moreover, patients who reported dizziness stated significantly higher scoring on emotional (p < 0.001) and functional (p < 0.001) DHI sub-scales. Furthermore, patients who reported an accident in their history suffered significantly more often from dizziness (p = 0.039) and pain (p < 0.001); in the head (p < 0.001), neck/shoulders (p < 0.001) and arms (p = 0.045) and they scored higher on the emotional (p = 0.004) and functional (p = 0.002) DHI sub-scales. Conclusions The findings suggest comorbidity to exist between dizziness and neck/shoulder or back pain in patients seeking health care for balance disorders or psychological issues. Patients suffering from dizziness and pain, or with both symptoms, also reported higher emotional and functional strain. Thus, healthcare professionals should consider comorbidity when determining diagnosis and consequent measures. Implications Clinicians need to have a broader "receptive scope" in both history and clinical examinations, and ask for all symptoms. Although the patients in this study visited a vestibular unit respectively a psychological clinic, they commonly reported pain conditions when explicitly asked for this symptom. A multimodal approach is thus to favor, especially when the symptoms persist, for the best clinical management.
Keywords: balance disorder; comorbidity; emotions; musculoskeletal pain; psychological distress.