Optokinetic stimulation rehabilitation in preventing seasickness.

OBJECTIVES

Seasickness occurs when traveling on a boat: symptoms such as vomiting are very disturbing and may be responsible for discontinuing travel or occupation and can become life-threatening. The failure of classical treatment to prevent seasickness has motivated this retrospective study exploring optokinetic stimulation in reducing these symptoms.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Experimental training of 75 sailors with optokinetic stimulation attempted to reduce seasickness manifestations and determine the factors that could predict accommodation problems.

RESULTS

Eighty percent of the trained subjects were able to return on board. No predictive factors such as sex, occupation, degree of illness, number of treatment sessions, time to follow-up, and age were found to influence training efficacy.

CONCLUSION

Optokinetic stimulation appears to be promising in the treatment of seasickness. Nevertheless, statistically significant results have yet to demonstrate its efficacy.