Dizziness and impaired postural balance in older patients receiving chemotherapy treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Dizziness and balance impairments are underexplored symptoms in older adults with cancer. Age-related factors, comorbidities, and chemotherapy may contribute to its prevalence and severity, potentially affecting quality of life, increasing fall risk, and delaying treatment. Data on the incidence and prevalence of these symptoms are limited. This systematic review aimed to summarize the evidence and estimate the incidence and prevalence of dizziness or vertigo and impaired postural balance in patients with cancer ≥65 years receiving chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and CINAHL in May 2025 without date or language restrictions. Cross sectional studies, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, and mixed method studies investigating incidence and/or prevalence of dizziness or vertigo and impaired postural balance were included. Random-effects meta-analysis, employing the inverse-variance method, was applied. Certainty of evidence was rated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. RESULTS: From 15,614 title/abstracts screened, 14 studies (1259 participants) were included. Incidence could not be evaluated. Studies reporting prevalence across multiple chemotherapy regimens contributed separate estimates for each regimen. Meta-analysis included 25 prevalence estimates for dizziness and three for impaired postural balance. The pooled prevalence of dizziness was 15 % (95 % CI:10 %-22 %). Assessor-reported prevalence using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) was 11 % (95 % CI: 8 %-16 %), while patient-reported prevalence rate using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-CIPN20), or a self-constructed questionnaire was 35 % (95 % CI: 20 %-53 %). Most studies demonstrated a high risk of bias, and certainty of evidence was very low due to unstructured assessor-reported measurement methods. Impaired postural balance prevalence from one study was 48 % (95 % CI: 39 %-57 %) with low certainty of evidence. Prevalence of dizziness and impaired postural balance did not differ significantly across chemotherapy regimens. DISCUSSION: Prevalence of dizziness and impaired postural balance in older patients receiving chemotherapy varied substantially depending on the measurement method, with higher rates in patient-reported outcomes. Certainty of evidence was low primarily due to limitations in outcome measures. Future studies should incorporate patient-reported outcome measures and a systematic objective baseline assessment for a comprehensive evaluation of these symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42024585974.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.009 | 0.024 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.016 | 0.028 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.006 | 0.007 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.003 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".