Trial reportBrazilian journal of otorhinolaryngology
Vestibular rehabilitation therapy in combination with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for treatment of chronic vestibular dysfunction in the elderly: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Brazilian journal of otorhinolaryngology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effectiveness of Vestibular Rehabilitation in Vestibular Migraine: A Systematic Review.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2026Pooled it
- Evaluation of effective methods in the treatment of residual dizziness after BPPV: a randomized comparative clinical study.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Trial
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Posterior Parietal Cortex on Visual and Vestibular Function.NeuroSci · 2026Article
- Anxiety-Related Functional Dizziness: A Systematic Review of the Recent Evidence on Vestibular, Cognitive Behavioral, and Integrative Therapies.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Clinical efficacy of vestibular assessment and rehabilitation training in peripheral vestibular vertigo.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2024Article
- Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Clinical Features of Dizziness and Cortical Activation in a Patient with Vestibular Migraine.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionDizziness and imbalance are common dysfunctions in the elderly. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy is an effective method to alleviate chronic dizziness in patients with vestibular dysfunction. Transcranial direct current stimulation has reportedly improved balance function in patients with vestibular dysfunction.
objectiveThis study was conducted to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation combined with transcranial direct current stimulation in elderly patients with vestibular dysfunction.
methodsIn a double-blinded randomized controlled trial, 36 elderly patients with chronic vestibular dysfunction were randomly assigned to either vestibular rehabilitation and transcranial direct current stimulation (n = 18) or vestibular rehabilitation alone (n = 18) group. The transcranial stimulation protocol consisted of multisession bifrontal electrical stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (2 mA intensity and 20 min duration), followed by rehabilitation exercises. The vestibular rehabilitation protocol consisted of habituation and adaptation exercises combined with gait exercises during a three week period. The primary outcome of this study was the dizziness handicap inventory score, and the secondary outcomes were activities-specific balance confidence and Beck anxiety inventory scores.
resultsFor the dizziness handicap score, the repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant main effect of "time", "stimulation" and stimulation × time interaction effect. There was a significant reduction in the overall dizziness handicap score with "time" for both the groups, which was more pronounced in the vestibular rehabilitation and electrical stimulation group. In terms of activities-specific balance confidence change scores, we found a significant main effect of "time" and "stimulation" main factors, but this effect for stimulation × time interaction was not significant. For the Beck anxiety score, we observed a significant main effect of "time", but no evidence for the main effect of the "stimulation" factor.
conclusionBifrontal transcranial direct current stimulation in combination with vestibular rehabilitation therapy is a promising approach to improve chronic vestibular symptoms in the elderly.
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