Abstract
BackgroundBalance disorders are a risk factor for falls in the elderly. Although noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) has been reported to improve balance in young people, randomised control trials targeting community-dwelling elderly people have not been conducted to date. We aimed to assess the influence of nGVS on COP sway in the open-eye standing posture among community-dwelling elderly people in a randomised controlled trial.MethodsA randomised controlled trial of 32 community-dwelling elderly people randomly assigned to control (sham stimulation) and an nGVS groups. All participants underwent centre of pressure (COP) sway measurements while standing with open eyes at baseline and during stimulation. The control group underwent sham stimulation and the nGVS group underwent noise stimulation (0.4 mA; 0.1–640 Hz).ResultsIn the nGVS group, sway path length, mediolateral mean velocity and anteroposterior mean velocity decreased during stimulation compared with baseline (P < 0.01). The effect of nGVS was large in participants with a high COP sway path length at baseline, but there was no significant difference in COP sway in the control group.ConclusionsWe conclude that nGVS decreases the COP sway path length and mean velocity of community-dwelling elderly people when standing with open eyes. This suggests that nGVS could be effective for treating balance dysfunction in the elderly.
Highlights
Balance disorders are a risk factor for falls in the elderly
The purpose of this research was to clarify the effect of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) in the open-eye standing posture by performing a randomised controlled trial of community-dwelling elderly people
When a significant difference was observed in the interaction, a Results We enrolled 32 community-dwelling elderly people (7 males and 25 females; mean age 75.8 ± 0.8 years) who were randomly assigned to a control group (3 males, 13 females, mean age 75.9 ± 1.1 years) and an nGVS group (4 males, 12 females, mean age 75.7 ± 1.3 years)
Summary
Balance disorders are a risk factor for falls in the elderly. Noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) has been reported to improve balance in young people, randomised control trials targeting community-dwelling elderly people have not been conducted to date. We aimed to assess the influence of nGVS on COP sway in the open-eye standing posture among community-dwelling elderly people in a randomised controlled trial. It has been reported that one in three elderly people aged 65 years or older and half of those aged 80 years and older will fall once a year [1], with balance disorders being a major risk factor [2]. Vestibular system function declines with increasing age [6], and this can increase the risk of falls [7, 8]
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