People that have difficulty with balance, such as those with damage to their inner ear, have a higher risk of falling, which may lead to anxiety and reduced quality of life. Some individuals that have lost part of their sense of balance can learn to compensate using information from their vision, their sense of where their limbs are in space, and from other balance organs that are still intact. Our study aims to determine if virtual reality used together with information from footplate sensors can be used to train people with balance problems to compensate for their inner ear deficits.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
13
Rehabilitation exercises guided by an interactive display and measured by a footplate sensor
Dr. EA David MD FRCSC
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Change in Sensory Organization Test (SOT) Composite Score (Score After Retraining Minus Score at Baseline)
Change in composite score of Sensory Organization Test (SOT) (Scores from 0-100; higher scores indicate better function); Lower scores indicate larger amount of sway Calculated as a composite of the 6 individual conditions of the SOT: 1. Eyes open on firm surface 2. Eyes closed on firm surface 3. Eyes open with sway referenced visual 4. Eyes open on sway referenced support surface 5. Eyes close on sway referenced support surfrace 6. Eyes open on sway referenced support surface and visual
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Dizziness Handicap Inventory Score (Score After Retraining Minus Score at Baseline)
Change in Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI); scale from 0-100; higher scores indicate greater disability; 16-34 Points (mild handicap), 36-52 Points (moderate handicap), 54+ Points (severe handicap)
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale Score (Score After Retraining Minus Score at Baseline)
Change in Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) score; (Scores from 0-100; higher scores indicate greater confidence in performing activities of daily living)
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) (Score After Retraining Minus Score at Baseline)
Change in Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I); possible scores 16-64, higher score indicates greater perceived fall risk
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Limits of Stability Area (Area After Retraining Minus Area at Baseline)
Change in endpoint excursion and maximum excursion functional stability region area, calculated from Limits of Stability (LOS) score Higher score indicates an ability to volitionally lean to larger angles. 100% of theoretical maximum in all directions would give an area of 28284. LOS excursion scores were calculated by the instrument software, from which we calculated the area of the endpoint excursion functional stability region (the sum of areas between adjacent Endpoint Excursion limits) and the area of the maximum excursion functional stability region (the sum of areas between adjacent Maximum Excursion limits) using published methods (Alvarez-Otero R, Perez-Fernandez N. The limits of stability in patients with unilateral vestibulopathy. Acta Oto-laryngol. 2017;137(10):1-6. doi:10.1080/00016489.2017.1339326)
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Sensory Organization Test Scores for Conditions 1 to 6 (Scores After Retraining Minus Scores at Baseline)
Change in mean Sensory Organization Test Scores for conditions 1 through 6; (Scores from 0-100; higher scores indicate better function) The 6 conditions are: 1. Eyes open on firm surface 2. Eyes closed on firm surface 3. Eyes open with sway referenced visual 4. Eyes open on sway referenced support surface 5. Eyes close on sway referenced support surfrace 6. Eyes open on sway referenced support surface and visual
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Sensory Organization Test Vestibular Contribution (Ratio After Retraining Minus Ratio at Baseline)
Change in mean value of Sensory Organization Test condition 5/mean value of SOT conditions 1; measured as a ratio, higher scores indicate a greater vestibular contribution to balance deficit
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Limits of Stability Directional Control Component (Score After Retraining Minus Score at Baseline)
Limits of Stability test mean value of directional control of limits of stability; (Scores from 0-100; higher scores indicate better function)
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
Change in Endpoint and Maximum Excursion Values From Limits of Stability Test (Score After Retraining Minus Score at Baseline)
Limits of Stability test mean endpoint excursion value and maximum excursion point; (Scores from 0-100; higher scores indicate better function)
Time frame: Through study completion, 12 rehabilitation sessions, an average of 7 weeks
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