| Summary: | A dissertation submitted to
The Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
School of Human and Community Development
Faculty of Humanities
University of the Witwatersrand
In fulfilment of the requirements of the degree
Master of Arts in Audiology
February, 2015 === In primary care settings, dizziness is reportedly one of the most common complaints seen by physicians (Desmond, 2004). Dizziness, although originating from many causes, often occurs from peripheral vestibular pathology (Kroenke, Hoffman & Eistandter, 2000). Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is used to treat peripheral vestibular disorders. As with all therapy, patient characteristics often affect therapy outcomes. Research has been conducted into some of these characteristics and how they affect VRT, however patients often possess more than one of these characteristics. Little research has been conducted on multiple characteristics and how these characteristics influence each other. The current study aimed to address this shortcoming and aimed to identify therapy outcome indicators when looking at the patient holistically.
Data source: The research included the records from patients who underwent videonystagmography (VNG) testing and were referred for VRT at a balance and dizzy clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa between 2010 and 2013.
Design: A retrospective quantitative research design was used in this study.
Method: Once ethical clearance was obtained, the necessary information was extracted from the patients’ files who provided informed consent and who met the inclusion criteria. The relevant information was tabulated and was analysed and interpreted using the relevant literature.
Data Analysis: To consider relationships of the variables in isolation, Chi-square tests and Spearman’s correlation were used. A stepwise modelling method was applied. Decision tree models were used to investigate the effect of patient characteristics in combination.
Results: When looking at the characteristics individually, the presence of fluctuating dysfunction and balance confidence were found to influence vestibular therapy outcomes.
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