Physical Therapist-Supervised Vestibular Rehabilitation for Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness: Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the effectiveness and feasibility of physical therapist-supervised vestibular rehabilitation (PT-VR) in patients with persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) who are unresponsive to medication and/or home-based vestibular rehabilitation (home-VR). Methods: Seven PPPD patients who exhibited resistance to medication and/or home-VR were enrolled. In conjunction with ongoing home-VR, the patients underwent 7 sessions of PT-VR over a three-month period. Improvement of the symptoms and feasibility of the program were evaluated. Results: Both the PT-VR and home-VR interventions were completed in all the 7 patients. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory score also showed significant improvement, decreasing from the pre-intervention score of 50.1 ± 12.1 points to 37.7 ± 20.2 at 1 month post-intervention and 26.0 ± 17.5% at 3 months post-intervention (p < 0.001). No adverse events were reported. Conclusion: For PPPD patients showing inadequate response to initial treatment, the combination of PT-VR and home-VR is an effective therapeutic approach for improving the symptom of dizziness.