Effect of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation in community-dwelling elderly people: a randomised controlled trial
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RESEARCH
Open Access
Effect of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation in community-dwelling elderly people: a randomised controlled trial Yasuto Inukai1,2* , Mitsuhiro Masaki1,2, Naofumi Otsuru1,2, Kei Saito1,2, Shota Miyaguchi1,2, Sho Kojima1,2 and Hideaki Onishi1,2
Abstract Background: Balance disorders are a risk factor for falls in the elderly. Although noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) has been reported to improve balance in young people, randomised control trials targeting community-dwelling elderly people have not been conducted to date. We aimed to assess the influence of nGVS on COP sway in the open-eye standing posture among community-dwelling elderly people in a randomised controlled trial. Methods: A randomised controlled trial of 32 community-dwelling elderly people randomly assigned to control (sham stimulation) and an nGVS groups. All participants underwent centre of pressure (COP) sway measurements while standing with open eyes at baseline and during stimulation. The control group underwent sham stimulation and the nGVS group underwent noise stimulation (0.4 mA; 0.1–640 Hz). Results: In the nGVS group, sway path length, mediolateral mean velocity and anteroposterior mean velocity decreased during stimulation compared with baseline (P < 0.01). The effect of nGVS was large in participants with a high COP sway path length at baseline, but there was no significant difference in COP sway in the control group. Conclusions: We conclude that nGVS decreases the COP sway path length and mean velocity of community-dwelling elderly people when standing with open eyes. This suggests that nGVS could be effective for treating balance dysfunction in the elderly. Keywords: Community-dwelling elderly people, Falls, Noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation, Centre of pressure, Postural sway
Background Falls are a leading cause of injury and death among the elderly and are a significant public health issue. It has been reported that one in three elderly people aged 65 years or older and half of those aged 80 years and older will fall once a year [1], with balance disorders being a major risk factor [2]. The visual, proprioceptive and vestibular sensory systems provide feedback from the environment and contribute to balance control by facilitating interaction with the external world [3, 4]. * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-ku, Niigata City, Niigata, Japan 2 Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-ku, Niigata City, Niigata, Japan
Among these, the vestibular system primarily functions to detect motion and head position. Specifically, three semicircular canals can perceive angular acceleration and velocity of the head, and the otolith organs (utricle and saccule) can sense linear acceleration of the head and head tilt [5]. However, vestibular system function declines with increasing age [6], and this can increase the risk of falls [7, 8
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