The Effectiveness of Vestibular Physiotherapy for the Treatment of Residual Dizziness of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Patients

Abstract

Residual dizziness (RD) is a common symptom experienced by Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) patients even after successful treatment with canalith repositioning manoeuvre. Vestibular physiotherapy is an effective treatment used to address various vestibular disorders including BPPV. The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of combining vestibular physiotherapy and vestibular sedatives for treating residual dizziness of BPPV patients. A quasiexperimental study was conducted including 48 BPPV patients with RD, within 18- 75 years of age. The participants were allocated into Group A (n=24), which followed only vestibular sedative treatment and Group B (n=24), which followed vestibular physiotherapy additional to vestibular sedatives. Demographic characteristics were obtained through a self-administrated questionnaire. Severity of handicap was investigated through the dizziness handicap inventory (DHI). Follow ups were carried out after 2 weeks and 4 weeks from the baseline using a validated Sinhala translation of the DHI. Independent sample t-test was used to compare improvements between groups and paired sample t-test was used to compare improvements within groups. The two groups showed no statistically significant differences between the baseline scores of DHI (t = -0.48, p = 0.63) indicating absence of contrasting characteristics at commence of the study. A significant mean difference of DHI in group B (31.08) was observed compared to Group A (24.83) at the end of 4 weeks. Statistical significance was observed for within-group improvements for both groups in total DHI and its subscales (p<0.05). Vestibular Physiotherapy combined with Vestibular Sedatives show beneficial effects on management of residual dizziness of BPPV patients.