SynthesisEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2014
Meta-analysis of clinical studies with betahistine in Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo.
Synthesis in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systemic pharmacological interventions for Ménière's disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Betahistine for symptoms of vertigo.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of betahistine treatment in patients with Meniere's disease: primary results of a long term, multicentre, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, dose defining trial (BEMED trial).BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2016Trial
- Effectiveness of betahistine as an add-on therapy to epley maneuver for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: A systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery · 2025Review
- World-wide survey on the treatment of peripheral vestibular disorders.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Effect of betahistine on pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in autoimmune inner ear disease and Meniere's disease patients.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2024Article
- Histaminergic System and Vestibular Function in Normal and Pathological Conditions.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Review
- Low Dose Betahistine in Combination With Selegiline Increases Cochlear Blood Flow in Guinea Pigs.The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology · 2023Article
- Current Insights into Treating Vertigo in Older Adults.Drugs & aging · 2021Review
- Menière's Disease and Caloric Stimulation: Some News from an Old Test.The journal of international advanced otology · 2019Article
- Management of peripheral vertigo with antihistamines: New options on the horizon.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Review
- Report from a Consensus Conference on the treatment of Ménière's disease with betahistine: rationale, methodology and results.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2018Article
- European Position Statement on Diagnosis, and Treatment of Meniere's Disease.The journal of international advanced otology · 2018Review
- Good Clinical Approach: Delphi Consensus for the Use of Betahistine in Menière's Disease.International journal of otolaryngology · 2018Article
- Longitudinal up-regulation of endolymphatic hydrops in patients with Meniere's disease during medical treatment.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2017Article
- [Peripheral, central and functional vertigo syndromes].Der Nervenarzt · 2015Review
- First-referral presentations of patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo who were negative on positional testing and who lacked nystagmus.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2015Article
- Effects and safety profile of betahistine in patients in the Russian contingent of OSVaLD, an open-label observational study in vestibular vertigo.International journal of general medicine · 2015Article
- Relationship of the changes of cervical MRI, TCD and BAEP in patients with "isolated" vertigo.International journal of clinical and experimental pathology · 2014Article
- Effects and tolerability of betahistine in patients with vestibular vertigo: results from the Romanian contingent of the OSVaLD study.International journal of general medicine · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We present a meta-analysis of 12 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical studies with betahistine in patients suffering from vestibular vertigo or Ménière's disease, based on both published and unpublished data. The clinical endpoint we used was the investigator's overall opinion on the response to treatment of the vertigo symptoms, after at least 1 month of treatment. We introduce a new effect parameter, the odds of a favorable treatment outcome, with the odds ratio as measure to compare the responses of betahistine and placebo patients. For each study a separate odds ratio was estimated (the study-specific odds ratio). All but one of the study-specific odds ratios were >1.0, meaning that with the new effect parameter there was evidence of an effect of betahistine on vertigo symptoms in 11 of the 12 studies. Four of the 12 studies showed a statistically significant effect in favor of betahistine compared to placebo. The meta-analytical (i.e., average) odds ratio was 2.58 (95% confidence interval 1.67-3.99), a statistically significant result. This means that on average, the likelihood of a favorable outcome is almost two times higher for patients treated with betahistine than for placebo-treated patients. Sub-analyses conducted for patients with Ménière's disease on one hand and with vestibular vertigo on the other hand also yielded statistically significant results. For Ménière's disease, the meta-analytical odds ratio was 3.37 (95% CI 2.14-5.29); for vestibular vertigo, the odds ratio was 2.23 (95% CI 1.20-4.14). Our meta-analysis supports the therapeutic benefit of betahistine on vertiginous symptoms in both Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.