"Across the board" posturography abnormalities in vestibular injury.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze a newly defined group of Computerized Dynamic Posturography abnormalities and to determine if these patients' abnormalities are of vestibular origin.

STUDY

DESIGN

Analysis of results drawn from our larger study of two groups of sequentially referred patients complaining of dizziness and/or imbalance.

SETTING

A tertiary and quaternary care ambulatory referral centre.

PATIENTS: Two groups of patients were studied. One was a group of patients who had suffered work-related head trauma and had subsequent complaints of dizziness and/or imbalance. The other was a group of patients referred for dizziness and/or imbalance who had no history of head trauma, work related injury. or litigation procedures.

INTERVENTIONS: Standard vestibular assessment including Computerized Dynamic Posturography was carried out on all patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CDP results of all patients were reanalyzed and all results were pulled which were abnormal on at least 5 of 6 sensory conditions. All results were analyzed using a quantitative method of detecting malingering and also using our newly developed nine point subjective/objective criteria scale.

RESULTS

While the standardized formulae categorized most of these results as "aphysiologic," our nine-point protocol showed most of the patients to be legitimate.

CONCLUSIONS

These results represent a legitimate subgroup of vestibular patients that we feel have been more or less unrecognized, many of whom are incapacitated by imbalance and disorientation. These results also are helpful in measuring safety of these patients in the workplace.