Effectiveness of home-based vestibular rehabilitation in chronic dizziness

Therapeutic options for vertigo may be pharmacological or non pharmacological. Intractable dizziness may require conventional drug therapy or vestibular exercises. We set up a single-group outpatient vestibular exercise course and evaluated its benefit. Subjects numbered 18 having chronic vertigo whose etiology included unilateral canal paresis following vestibular neuritis. Time from disease onset to the introduction of vestibular exercise was from 6 to 70 months (average ±std: 22.1±21.1). Small-groups home-based vestibular exercise consisted of a 2-hour lecture and practice in which subjects were taught exercises to be done 4 times a day at home. Symptoms of vertigo were obtained using Japanese version of the dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) and static posturography at the initial visit and before, 2 months, and 4 months after rehabilitation. The DHI score at the initial visit was 38. 6 ±26. 0 compared to 12. 3 ±10. 2 4 months after rehabilitation. The static posturography area did not change before or after therapy. We recommend that future studies objectively assess how the DHI score could be improved.