Quality of life of individuals submitted to vestibular rehabilitation

Olívia Helena Gomes Patatas,Cristina Freitas Ganança,Fernando Freitas Ganança

doi:10.1016/s1808-8694(15)30657-1

Abstract

SummaryBalance disorders affect social, family and professional activities. Vestibular rehabilitation can reduce the impact of these disorders on the quality of life of individuals with vertigo.Aimto study the influence of vestibular rehabilitation on the quality of life of individuals, correlating it with gender, age, results from computerized vectoelectronystagmography and vertigo. Study type: Retrospective.Materials and MethodsTwenty-two individuals were submitted to customized vestibular rehabilitation and the Brazilian Dizziness Handicap Inventory - DHI before and after vestibular rehabilitation. Results from this questionnaire were correlated with gender, age, vestibular assessment and the presence of vertigo.Resultsall the DHI scores reduced significantly after vestibular rehabilitation. There were no differences among genders; adults and elderly patients; irritative peripheral vestibular syndromes; deficiency syndromes and normal exams; the presence or absence of vertigo.Conclusionall the individuals had improvements in their quality of life after customized vestibular rehabilitation.

Highlights

Body balance, the capacity to keep oneself upright or to perform body movements without oscillation or falls is fundamental in order to adopt and keep postures, and it allows for harmonious movements, physical and mental comfort
Knowing the importance of vestibular rehabilitation (VR) in the neurotological treatment proven in the pertaining literature and the large number of patients who complain of dizziness and other associated symptoms, this paper aims at checking the influence of VR on the Quality of Life of individuals, correlating the variables analyzed in the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) with aspects such as gender, age, conclusion regarding the computerized vector-electronystagmography test and the presence or absence of vertigo
Of the 22 individuals sampled, three (13.63%) had normal results seen at the vestibular test; 11 (50%) had Irritative Peripheral Vestibular Syndrome (6 unilateral and 5 were bilateral); 8 (36.36%) with Deficitary Peripheral Vestibular Syndrome (3 unilateral and 5 bilateral)

Summary

Introduction

The capacity to keep oneself upright or to perform body movements without oscillation or falls is fundamental in order to adopt and keep postures, and it allows for harmonious movements, physical and mental comfort. Disorders that affect this capacity can cause important clinical manifestations such as unbalance, gait deviations, instability, feeling of floating, falls, and others, and vertigo is the most common complaint.[1,2]. Such tool has been translated and culturally adapted by Castro et al.7 - the Brazilian DHI

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