RESUMO
Objective: We describe the first-year implementation experience of an Instrumented Sensory Integration Therapy Program in Audiological & Balance Center patients. Design: This is a retrospective descriptive study. Participants included Seventy-three adults with diagnoses of acute, episodic, or chronic vestibular syndromes. They were classified into the following two groups: group 1 included 46 individuals treated with ISIT plus VRT, and group 2 included 27 individuals treated only with ISIT. Results: The Sensory Organization Test (SOT) for both groups showed a statistical significance for all three sensory inputs; visual systems (G1: p = 0.0003; G2: p = 0.0337), vestibular system (G1: p < 0.0001; G2: p = 0.0003), and balance as demonstrated by compound balance score (G1: p < 0.0001; G2: p = 0.0035), and balance percentage deficit (G1: p < 0.0001; G2: p = 0.0078). Conclusions: The severity and complexity of functional neurological disorders in the context of vestibular syndromes seem to require between 10 and 20 therapy sessions, and combined ISIT plus VRT appears to be more effective than ISIT as a monotherapy.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between disability and health-related quality of life in women with vertigo of peripheral origin. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in 26 women diagnosed with vertigo, classified by type of peripheral vestibular disturbance: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis, Ménière's disease, post-trauma and others. In a self-report interview, a 12-item short-form (SF-12) health survey on quality of life was applied; disability was assessed with the questionnaire "Dizziness Handicap Inventory" (DHI). Measures of central tendency, dispersion for the domains and types of vestibular disturbance were used and internal DHI consistency and inter-scale correlation were calculated. RESULTS: Patients in the vestibular neuritis and Ménière groups displayed a higher level of disability according to the DHI functional (29.5+/-5.5 vs. 27.0+/-8.8) and physical domains (23.0+/-4.1 vs. 21.5+/-6.6). Based on the SF-12 domains, greater deterioration in quality of life was perceived in physical (22.9+/-3.9 vs. 22.6+/-4.6) and emotional performance (15.4+/-5.0 vs. 11.3+/-6.0), respectively. Acceptable and significant inverse correlations were found between the physical component summary (PCS-12) of the SF-12 and the physical, emotional and functional aspects of the DHI questionnaire (r=-0.51 to -0.78, p<0.01). Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha index) of the DHI questionnaire was appropriate for the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The DHI and the SF-12 are useful, practical and valid instruments for assessing the impact of dizziness on the quality of life of patients with this symptom.