Article

Individuals with unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH) alter their
movement and reduce mobility to try to stabilize their gaze and avoid symptoms of
dizziness and vertigo. OBJECTIVE: To determine if individuals with UVH 6 weeks
after surgery demonstrate altered head and trunk kinematics during community
ambulation. METHODS:
A total of 15 vestibular schwannoma patients with documented
postoperative unilateral vestibular loss and 9 healthy controls with symmetrical
vestibulo-ocular reflexes participated in this cross-sectional study. Head
kinematics (head turn frequency, amplitude, and velocity) and head-trunk
coordination during community ambulation were obtained from inertial measurement
units for all head movements and within specific amplitudes of head movement.
RESULTS: Individuals with UVH made smaller (mean 26 degrees [SD = 3 degrees ] vs
32 degrees [SD = 6 degrees ]), fewer (mean 133 [SD = 59] vs 221 [SD = 64]), and
slower (mean 75 degrees /s [SD = 8 degrees /s] vs 103 degrees /s [SD = 23 degrees
/s]) head turns than healthy individuals ( P < .05) but did not demonstrate
significantly increased head-trunk coupling (mean 38% [SD = 18%] vs 31% [SD =
11%], P = .22). When small (45 degrees ) head turns
were considered separately, individuals with UVH demonstrated increased
head-trunk coupling compared with healthy individuals for large head turns (mean
54% [SD = 23%] vs 33% [SD = 10%], P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated
that although walking at an adequate speed, individuals with UVH made fewer,
smaller, and slower head movements symmetrically in both directions compared with
healthy individuals and did not decouple their head movement relative to their
trunk when required to make larger purposeful head turns during community
ambulation.

Langue : ANGLAIS