Supervised exercise as an adjuvant program for people with unilateral chronic vestibular hypofunction: EXERVEST Study protocol and preliminary baseline results

Abstract

Introduction: Unilateral peripheral vestibular dysfunction (UPVD) often complains of dizziness, gaze and balance disturbances. There is a lack of evidence on exercise intervention in UPVD patients. Objectives: 1) To present the study protocol with the goal to investigate the effect of an 8-week supervised exercise concurrent program (i.e., aerobic and resistance exercises) in people suffering from UPVD in comparison with a control group doing conventional vestibular rehabilitation at home. 2) To describe a preliminary sample providing characterization data related to body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, balance and perception of health-related quality of life data. Methods: This longitudinal, controlled, randomized, prospective, single-blinded, two-arm, parallel intervention study will include 146 adults (18-65 years old) with chronic unilateral vestibular hypofunction. Participants will be randomly assigned to an exercise intervention group (concurrent program) or an attention crontrol group (AC). Participants will be assessed at baseline, after a 2- month intervention period, and 6-month follow-up. The primary variable will be balance, measured by posturography and Dynamic Gait Index test. Secondary outcome variables will include body composition (bioimpedance and anthropometric variables), physical activity level and sleep quality (accelerometry), health-related quality of life (Dizziness Handicap Inventory questionnaire), emotional state (Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventory questionnaires), blood pressure monitoring, and cardiorespiratory fitness (peak cardiopulmonary exercise test). Results: Participants in the EXERVEST study showed 1) body composition values outside the ranges considered optimal (overweight and 29.9% of fat body mass), moderate cardiorespiratory fitness level (26.5±6.63 mL·kg-1·min-1) and optimal BP values (<120/80mmHg) and, 2) common dizziness, moderate anxiety level and mild depression. Conclusion: The need for research in this area is clear and this will be an innovative study that will test physical exercise as an adjuvant program to improve the prognosis of these patients.