Effect of individualized rehabilitation program for patients with refractory dizziness

Abstract

A number of studies have demonstrated that vestibular rehabilitation improves the function such as postural stability and gaze stability and reduces the dizziness in patients with vestibular disorders. However, there are few reports about the effectiveness of vestibular rehabilitation for those patients in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an individualized vestibular rehabilitation program for patients with refractory dizziness. Twelve patients who suffered from refractory dizziness participated in this study. The rehabilitation sessions were performed once a week by a physical therapist and patients executed a customized rehabilitation program at home. The Modified Clinical Test for Sensory Interaction and Balance (standing on a firm surface with eyes open, firm surface with eyes closed, foam surface with eyes open and foam surface with eyes closed) and dizziness handicap inventory were evaluated pretreatment at baseline and at one month and three months after treatment. The results showed that postural stability on a foam surface with eyes closed and dizziness handicap inventory had significantly improved at 3 months after treatment compared with the pretreatment findings. There were no significant differences for all parameters between the pre- and one month posttreatment groups. These findings support the importance of an individualized rehabilitation program for patients with refractory dizziness.