Affiliations: [a] Bobby R. Alford Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA | [b] Design and Analysis Unit, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Helen Cohen, EdD, Department of Otolaryngology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Tel.: +1 713 798 6336; Fax: +1 713 798 8658; E-mail: [email protected]
Note: [**] Currently in private practice, Austin, TX, USA
Abstract: Fifty-three subjects with peripheral, chronic vestibulopathies, who were referred for vestibular rehabilitation, were tested on a path integration task before and after doing four weeks of five times daily habituation exercises for vertigo reduction. The task involved walking over a 7.62 m path with eyes closed. Dependent measures were velocity and angle of veering from the straight ahead. At the post-test and at succeeding follow-up tests for up to six months, subjects had significant increases in velocity and significant declines in angle of veering. Length of time subjects had vertigo prior to starting rehabilitation, and speed of head movement exercises were not associated with improvements. These data support the previous finding that patients with vestibular impairments have decreased performance on this task. The data also suggest that vestibular rehabilitation, given as a simple home program, is associated with improvements in this skill.
