Article

Vestibular asymmetry is a common cause of dizziness in the elderly, for whom it
precipitates the risk of falling. Previous studies have shown that those with
vestibular asymmetry displayed an altered variability in double support time
(DST) compared to controls. However, swing time (SwT) variability findings are
conflicting. In this study, we investigated if vestibular asymmetry might be
causally connected to increased DST variability.
We studied a group of eight
elderly fallers with wrist fractures across three months, during which time four
of them regained vestibular symmetry while four others developed an asymmetry. We
evaluated the variability of DST and SwT, both when the participants suffered
from vestibular asymmetry and when they did not. On average, variability in DST
was significantly greater by 2.38%CV (coefficient of variation) when participants
scored positive for vestibular asymmetry compared to when not, t(5)=4.39, p=0.01,
xi=1.67. In contrast, SwT variability differed non-significantly by 0.44%CV when
participants had tested positive versus negative for vestibular asymmetry,
t(5)=-0.87, p=0.39, xi=-0.29. As a possible rationale for our results, we propose
that increased DST variability may be the result of a re-stabilization strategy.
Further research on DST variability and its correlation to the duration of
vestibular asymmetry is recommended.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS