Development of a new gaze stabilization test

Abstract

The gaze stabilization test (GST) is used not only in examining gaze stability required by daily life activities, but also in identifying unilateral or bilateral vestibular deficits. However, a computerized GST (CGST) is an expensive assessment, which cannot be commonly used in most clinics. Validation of low-cost and low-technical clinical tests is required to decrease health care costs. The purpose of this study was to measure the accuracy of a new GST (NGST) in a cohort of healthy young adults with no history of vestibular or balance disorders, as well as the test-retest reliability when re-assessed 5-7 days. Subjects identified a visual target while actively and passively performing head movements in the yaw plane at an initial screening velocity of 130 degs/sec. The main outcome was a strong positive correlation in both active and passive NGST head movement amplitude degree and head movement velocity. Passive head movements had good accuracy (85%) to identify healthy individuals with no history of vestibular or balance disorders. In addition, the NGST has good test-retest reliability in head movement amplitude degree (r=0.795) and head movement velocity (r=0.797) of passive NGST within two testing sessions.