Effects of Vestibular Training on Postural Control of Healthy Adults Using Virtual Reality
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Vestibular training using VR followed by Control, Control followed by Vestibular training using VR.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Virtual Reality, Vestibular Training, Balance Assessment. Basic parameters: 18 years — 35 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
Postural instability is a common symptom of vestibular dysfunction that impacts a person's day-to-day activities. Vestibular rehabilitation is effective in decreasing dizziness, visual symptoms and improving postural control through several mechanisms including sensory reweighting. As part of the sensory reweighting mechanisms, vestibular activation training with headshake activities influence vestibular reflexes. However, combining challenging vestibular and postural tasks to facilitate more effective rehabilitation outcomes is under-utilized. The novel concurrent headshake and weight shift training (Concurrent HS-WST) is purported to train the vestibular system to directly impact the postural control system simultaneously and engage sensory reweighting to improve balance. Young healthy participants will perform the training by donning a virtual reality headset with an overhead harness on and a spotter present to prevent any falls. The investigators propose that this training strategy would show improved outcomes over traditional training methods by improving vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) gains, eye movement variability, sensory reweighting and promoting postural balance. The findings of this study may guide clinicians to develop rehabilitation methods for vestibular postural control in neurological populations with vestibular and/or sensorimotor control impairment.
Interventions
- Device Vestibular training using VR followed by Control
A cross-over design will be used with group one receiving the training intervention for 6 days, a 4-day washout period, and a 6-day no-training period. - Device Control followed by Vestibular training using VR
Group two will follow the reverse sequence.
Primary outcome measures
- Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain [Time frame: Two week study period]
- Eye movement variability [Time frame: Two week study period]
- Electromyography (EMG) amplitude [Time frame: Two week study period]
- Electromyography (EMG) time onset [Time frame: Two week study period]
- Balance equilibrium and composite scores [Time frame: Two week study period]
- Sensory ratios [Time frame: Two week study period]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Able to stand independently (without an assistive device)
- This study requires participants to perform postural assessments including reactive balance following mechanical perturbations.
- Participants will also perform headshake activities and weight shift training in standing for 20 mins will mini breaks.
- Participants must be within the age of 18-35.
- A power analysis revealed that a sample of 24 participants will required for a two-group comparison to detect a significant difference at alpha=0.05 and 0.30 effect size at beta=0.8 (G\*Power, Version 3.0.10)(Faul et al, 2007).
Exclusion criteria
- Participants with an evidence of:
- Concussion, vestibular, balance or oculomotor issues for the prior 6 months.
- Neuropathic conditions, particularly affecting the lower extremities. Participants with this issue will have sensory impairments which can affect their sensory assessment.
- Current musculoskeletal deficits including significant postural abnormalities (signs of spinal, pelvic and leg length discrepancies).
- Pain or limitations in neck range of motion.
- Recent (within 6 months) orthopedic surgery that impacts postural training.
- Visual Impairment
- Participants must be able to see and follow targets on the computer monitor. Therefore, subjects must have 20/50 (corrected) vision. Subjects who are blind cannot participate.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Crossover
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- Clarkson University — Potsdam
Publications
- Appiah-Kubi KO, Wright WG. Vestibular training promotes adaptation of multisensory integration in postural control. Gait Posture. 2019 Sep;73:215-220. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.07.197. Epub 2019 Jul 16. PMID 31376748
Identifiers
NCT: NCT05941039 · 20-25