Effects of a Four-Week Vestibular Exercise Program on Postural Control, Risk of Falling, and Quality of Life in Visually-impaired Individuals

Visually-impaired individuals encounter difficulties in balance control and quality of life, and experience more instability, compared to healthy people. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of vestibular exercises training program on postural control, risk of falling, and quality of life in individuals with visual impairment. 

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and a control group design. In total, 24 men with visual impairment were randomly divided into the control and experimental groups. The experimental group performed a 4-week vestibular exercise program for 3 weekly sessions of 50 minutes. The Biodex Balance System, Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) were respectively used to evaluate the postural control, risk of falling, and quality of life of the study samples, before and after the exercise intervention. Univariate analysis and Paired Samples t-test were used to determine the differences between the two groups.

The present study results suggested that vestibular exercises improved balance and quality of life, and decrease the risk of falling in visually-impaired people; there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest values in the experimental group. However, no significant difference was observed in the control group in the mentioned variables. The Univariate analysis results revealed that the experimental group obtained higher scores on balance, risk of falling, and quality of life, compared to the control group.

Vestibular exercises significantly improved postural control and quality of life, and decreased the risk of falling in the studied samples. It is recommended that these exercises be included in the rehabilitation programs for visually-impaired individuals.