Balance rehabilitation in patients with diagnosis ofmigraineous vertigo with peripheral vestibular involvement

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vestibular rehabilitation on balance and gait in vestibular migraine (VM) patients. Methods: In 127 patients diagnosed with VM, balance and gait functions, motion sickness and anxiety levels were investigated by comparing 56 migraine patients without dizziness and 55 healthy subjects. Sixty-nine VM patients with imbalance complaints participated in the vestibular rehabilitation program. Patients did their vestibular rehabilitation exercises at home by coming to control once a week in supervised home programme group. At the end of 8 weeks, assessments which were done before the treatment were repeated. In the assessment Berg Balance Scale, Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Falls Efficacy Scale, Dynamic Gait Index, Clinical test of sensory integration of balance were used for gait and balance abilities. Results: Balance and gait outcomes of VM patients were worse than migraineurs and healthy subjects, and migraineurs had worse performance than healthy subjects significantly (p<0,05). In 56 patients who completed the vestibular rehabilitation program, the balance and gait scores improved significantly (p<0,05). Conclusion: In addition to functional balance functions of VM patients, the motion sickness susceptibility and anxiety levels are worse than migraine patients and healthy individuals. An improvement in functional abilities with vestibular rehabilitation suggests that anxiety responses due to imbalance can be reduced and patients can participate more actively in daily life. Key Words: vestibular migraine, migraine, balance, vestibular rehabilitation, recovery