Concurrent Vestibular Activation and Postural Training Using Virtual Reality

NCT ID: NCT05942781

Last Updated: 2025-06-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 24 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-04-15
• Study Completion Date: 2025-09-01

Brief Summary

Postural instability is a common symptom of vestibular dysfunction that impacts a person's day-to-day activities. Vestibular rehabilitation is effective in decreasing dizziness, visual symptoms and improving postural control through several mechanisms including sensory reweighting. As part of the sensory reweighting mechanisms, vestibular activation training with headshake activities influence vestibular reflexes. However, combining challenging vestibular and postural tasks to facilitate more effective rehabilitation outcomes is under-utilized. The novel concurrent headshake and weight shift training (Concurrent HS-WST) is purported to train the vestibular system to directly impact the postural control system simultaneously and engage sensory reweighting to improve balance. Healthy older adults will perform the training by donning a virtual reality headset and standing on the floor or foam pad with an overhead harness on and a spotter present to prevent any falls. The investigators propose that this training strategy would show improved outcomes over traditional training methods by improving vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) gains, eye movement variability, sensory reweighting and promoting postural balance. The findings of this study may guide clinicians to develop rehabilitation methods for vestibular postural control in neurological populations with vestibular and/or sensorimotor control impairment.

Conditions

Vestibular Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Vestibular activation training

A cross-over design will be used with group one receiving the training intervention for 7 days, a 6-day washout period, and a 7-day no-training period. Group two will follow the reverse sequence.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Vestibular training using VR followed by Control

Intervention Type: DEVICE

A cross-over design will be used with group one receiving the training intervention for 7 days, a 6-day washout period, and a 7-day no-training period.

Control followed by Vestibular training using VR

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Group two will follow the reverse sequence.

No training

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Vestibular training using VR followed by Control

A cross-over design will be used with group one receiving the training intervention for 7 days, a 6-day washout period, and a 7-day no-training period.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Control followed by Vestibular training using VR

Group two will follow the reverse sequence.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Able to stand independently (without an assistive device)

• This study requires participants to perform postural assessments including reactive balance following mechanical perturbations.
• Participants will also perform headshake activities and weight shift training in standing for 20 mins will mini breaks.
• Participants must be between the ages of 55-80.

Exclusion Criteria

• Participants with evidence of:

• Concussion, vestibular, balance or oculomotor issues for the prior 6 months.
• Neuropathic conditions, particularly affecting the lower extremities. Participants with this issue will have sensory impairments which can affect their sensory assessment.
• Current musculoskeletal deficits including significant postural abnormalities (signs of spinal, pelvic and leg length discrepancies).
• Pain or limitations in neck range of motion.
• Recent (within 6 months) orthopedic surgery that impacts postural training.
• Visual Impairment ○ Participants must be able to see and follow targets in the virtual reality environment. Therefore, subjects must have 20/50 (corrected) vision. Subjects who are blind cannot participate.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 55 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 80 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Clarkson University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kwadwo Appiah-Kubi

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Clarkson Hall

Potsdam, New York, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

23-30

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id