Bayat Arash, Pourbakht Akram, Saki Nader, Zainun Zuraida, Nikakhlagh Soheila, Mirmomeni Golshan
Department of Audiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2012 Nov;14(11):705-8. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.3507. Epub 2012 Nov 15.
Chronic vestibular dysfunction is a frustrating problem in the elderly and can have a tremendous impact on their life, but only a few studies are available. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is an important therapeutic option for the neuro-otologist in treating patients with significant balance deficits.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of vestibular rehabilitation on dizziness in elderly patients with chronic vestibular dysfunction.
A total of 33 patients older than 60 years with chronic vestibular dysfunction were studied. Clinical and objective vestibular tests including videonystagmography (VNG) and dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) were carried out at their first visit, 2 weeks, and 8 weeks post-VRT. The VRT exercises were performed according to Cawthorne and Cooksey protocols.
Oculomotor assessments were within normal limits in all patients. Nineteen patients (57.57%) showed abnormal canal paralysis on caloric testing which at follow-up sessions; CP values were decreased remarkably after VRT exercises. We found a significant improvement between pre-VRT and post-VRT total DHI scores (P < 0.001). This improvement was most prominent in functional subscore.
Our study demonstrated that VRT is an effective therapeutic method for elderly patients with chronic vestibular dysfunction.
慢性前庭功能障碍在老年人中是一个令人沮丧的问题，会对他们的生活产生巨大影响，但相关研究较少。前庭康复治疗（VRT）是神经耳科医生治疗有明显平衡缺陷患者的重要治疗选择。
本研究旨在评估前庭康复对老年慢性前庭功能障碍患者头晕的影响。
共研究了33例60岁以上的慢性前庭功能障碍患者。在首次就诊时、VRT后2周和8周进行了包括视频眼震图（VNG）和头晕残障量表（DHI）在内的临床和客观前庭测试。VRT训练按照考索恩和库克西方案进行。
所有患者的动眼神经评估均在正常范围内。19例患者（57.57%）在冷热试验中显示半规管麻痹异常，在随访时；VRT训练后CP值显著下降。我们发现VRT前和VRT后总DHI评分之间有显著改善（P < 0.001）。这种改善在功能子评分中最为显著。
我们的研究表明，VRT是治疗老年慢性前庭功能障碍患者的有效治疗方法。
