SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1599201
This article is part of the Research TopicNew methods in neurorehabilitationView all 5 articles
Effect of vestibular rehabilitation therapy in patients with persistent postural perceptual dizziness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Chaoyang Central Hospital, Chaoyang, China
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Background: Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD) is an increasingly recognized syndrome defined by enduring experiences of dizziness, unbalance, or non-vertiginous dizziness, generally persisting for a minimum of three months. This condition significantly impacts patients' quality of life, highlighting the necessity for prompt and effective management.Vestibular rehabilitation therapy(VRT) has demonstrated efficacy in alleviating dizzy symptoms and enhancing balance.This meta-analysis seeks to assess the effectiveness of VRT in alleviating subjective dizzy symptoms and improving postural control in persons with PPPD.Methods: Two reviewers independently searched electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Library) for pertinent studies investigating VRT for PPPD. Studies employing the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) as an assessment tool were included, provided they were extracted and presented in English from inception to March 7, 2025.Eight papers were included into this meta-analysis.The aggregated weighted mean difference (WMD) indicated substantially improved outcomes for PPPD patients who underwent VRT compared to the control group in DHI-Total scores (WMD = 21.84, 95% CI: [10.97, 32.71] ). In subgroup analysis, DHI-Total score improvements were observed in both customized VRT ( WMD = 21.06, 95% CI: [5.65, 36.47] ) and virtual reality-based VRT groups ( WMD = 23.77, 95% CI: [8.09, 39.45] . Detailed data for DHI-Physical(DHI-P), Emotional(DHI-E), and Functional (DHI-F) scores from five trials (442 individuals) indicated a substantial reduction among PPPD patients receiving VRT (DHI-P:
Keywords: Vestibular rehabilitation therapy(VRT), Virtual reality therapy, Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD), DHI (Dizziness Handicap Inventory), Vestibular Rehabilitation
Received: 24 Mar 2025; Accepted: 13 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Ding, Pei, Liu, Xu, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lianhe Li, Chaoyang Central Hospital, Chaoyang, China
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