The Effect of Vestibular Rehabilitation in the Treatment of Unilateral Meniere’s Disease

Meniere’s disease is a disorder that reduces the quality of life of individuals affected due to balance problems. This study aimed to explore the role of vestibular rehabilitation in treating patients with unilateral Meniere’s disease.

23 patients with a definite unilateral Meniere’s disease was included in this study. All patients underwent a complete auditory-vestibular test battery. The vestibular rehabilitation program was performed under the supervision of an expert therapist for one month. The effectiveness of this program was monitored using DHI and ABC questionnaires.

The mean and standard deviation of ABC questionnaire before and after rehabilitation were 62.57±11.63 and 70.17±12.48, respectively. These values for the DHI questionnaire were 46.61±8.93 and 38.26±6.21.  The difference between pre- and post-intervention was significant. The difference between before and after the intervention was significant in both questionnaires (p<0.05). In addition, the improvement rate of the patient in these two questionnaires was negatively correlated (p=0.001).

Vestibular rehabilitation in the chronic phase of unilateral Meniere's disease can improve balance, physical and psychological symptoms. Therefore, it is recommended to control the disease in these people.