AUTHOR=Kingma Herman , Hougaard Dan Dupont , van de Berg Raymond 

TITLE=Subconscious vibrotactile stimulation improves mobility and balance in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy: adherence over 2 years

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1491195

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2024.1491195

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Objective: To investigate the effect of daily use of subconscious vibrotactile stimulation in bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) patients, who judged the effect of vestibular rehabilitation as insufficient.Methods: BVP patients were asked to wear a subconscious vibrotactile stimulation belt for 2 hours.Patients who reported benefit after 2 hours of use, were instructed to wear a subconscious vibrotactile stimulation belt in daily life, for up to more than 2 years. Follow-up consultations (mostly by telephone calls) were scheduled after 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year and 2 years of use. During these consultations, adherence and the self-reported overall Balance and Mobility Score (BMS) were evaluated.One hundred twenty-one BVP patients were included. Regarding adherence, 74% of patients (n=89) wanted to proceed with daily use at home after 2 hours of try out. Of these patients, 90% (n=80) was still wearing the belt daily after two months, and at least 81% (n=72) after one year and 73% (n=65) after two years. It should be noted that lack of adherence after one and two years resulted from a loss to follow-up. All patients responding to telephone consultations in the two years follow up were wearing a subconscious vibrotactile stimulation belt daily. The median BMS score significantly improved within two hours of use, from 4 to 6 points (p<0.0001). Compared to baseline, the median BMS score significantly improved with >3 points after 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year and 2 years of daily use (p<0.0001). Long-term adherence was high in patients who experienced an increase of two or more points on the BMS, after 2 weeks of daily use.The Subconscious vibrotactile stimulation improves self-reported balance and mobility in a subgroup of motivated BVP patients in which vestibular rehabilitation is insufficient.