DIFFERENCES AND ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DYNAMIC POSTUROGRAPHY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN SUBJECTS WITH DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SEVERITY OF BILATERAL VESTIBULOPATHY

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Bilateral vestibulopathy has been associated with a significant perception of disability and a vestibular pattern with reduced stability limits on computerized dynamic posturography. No studies have been conducted relating the different degrees of severity of this condition to quality of life. Objective: To describe and associate dynamic posturography with quality of life in subjects with different degrees of severity of bilateral vestibulopathy. Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, comparative, non-experimental study. Forty-four patients with confirmed bilateral vestibulopathy were included, classified into three degrees of severity using thermal tests: group I (G1): moderate partial, group II (G2): severe partial, and group III (G3): complete. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), and Dynamic Posturography (DPP) were administered. Analysis using descriptive statistics: central tendency and dispersion (quantitative variables), frequencies and percentages (qualitative variables); associations evaluated using: Shapiro-Wilk, Levene, and ANOVA tests. Results: The predominant characteristics in the three groups were: female in G1 and male in G2 and G3; average age 48, 62, and 56 years, respectively; symptoms of dizziness and instability and idiopathic etiology for all three groups. WHOQOL-BREF in G2 and G3 showed 25% with fair and very poor quality of life. DHI: G1: mild disability, G2: moderate, and G3: severe. In all three groups; HADS: most suffered from anxiety and 50% of the total from depression. PDC with a predominance of vestibular and visual sensory afferents. Discussion: Bilateral vestibulopathy impacts the environmental domain of WHOQOL-BREF, regardless of the degree of severity, more than alterations in PDC, unlike what has been reported in previous studies. Conclusions: Bilateral vestibulopathy affects quality of life (Environment) but not PCD regardless of the degree of severity; it requires rehabilitation integrating PCD and subjective perception.