evaluation of the effect of vestibular exercises on dizziness and postural control in parkinson patients

Introduction: non-motor symptoms of parkinson disease have significant effects on the quality of life in this group of patients. among these symptoms, dizziness is associated with the changes in orthostatic hypotension (oh). about 30% of people over 65 years have dizziness; however, the exact mechanism of dizziness in these patients was not clear. dizziness has symptoms such as fainting, light headache, vertigo and imbalance. the present study is based on the given fact that one of the reasons for dizziness in parkinson patients is the disturbance of balance systems. in addition, the vestibular system is one of the main elements involved in normal balance. as, the role of vestibular system in parkinson disease has been suggested in previous studies. the main aim of current study is to investigate the effects of vestibular exercises on the dizziness of parkinson patients.materials and methods: twenty-four patients participated in this study based on the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. dizziness handicap inventory-persian (dhi-p) was used for dizziness measurement. in addition, berg balance scale (bbs), functional reach (fr) and 2 minutes walking test (2mwt) were used for measuring the postural control before and after interventions. the intervention group performed the vestibular exercises and the control group performed the conventional exercises (3 days a week for 60 minutes and a total of 24 sessions).results: the total score of dhi-p showed a significant improvement in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0.001). also, the bbs tests (p<0.001), fr (p<0.001), 2mwt (p=0.001) showed a significant improvement in the intervention group.conclusion: based on the results of this study, it could be suggested that vestibular exercises, as none sophisticated, feasible, and low cost rehabilitation–protocol has beneficial effects for patients with parkinson disease. this protocol does not need any particular equipment and can be used in all environments while it can reduce dizziness and improve motor skills and postural control in this group of patients.