Introduction and Purpose: Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) has been established as an effective treatment based on high-level evidence, as outlined in the 2024 Japanese guidelines; however, its adoption remains limited in Japan. This study was aimed at examining the clinical effectiveness of the first year of an outpatient VR program introduced at the Kunisaki City Hospital in collaboration with rehabilitation professionals (RPs), including physical and occupational therapists.
Methods: This retrospective study included eight patients with chronic dizziness (six women, two men; mean age 76.0 years) who received outpatient VR between June 2024 and May 2025. The diagnoses included persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) (three cases), unilateral vestibular hypofunction (two cases), dizziness of other etiologies (two cases), and bilateral vestibular hypofunction (one case). Based on the Japanese guidelines, the VR program was conducted by RPs for three months, focusing on a customized program of head movement, balance, gait, and habituation exercises. Patient-reported outcomes and changes in objective measures after the intervention were examined using the dizziness handicap inventory (DHI), Niigata PPPD questionnaire, activities-specific balance confidence (ABC) scale, functional gait assessment (FGA), dynamic gait index (DGI), timed up & go test, and 10-meter walk test.
Results: Statistically significant improvements were observed in the DHI, ABC scale, FGA, DGI, and 10-meter walk test.
Conclusion: The outpatient VR program conducted in collaboration with RPs, in its first year, demonstrated significant therapeutic effectiveness in improving subjective disability, balance confidence, and gait ability in patients with chronic dizziness. These results indicate that building a collaborative framework between otolaryngologists and RPs, even those initially inexperienced in VR, is a key factor in the effective and widespread adoption of VR.
