Article

Vestibular patients show slower and unsteady gait; they have also
been shown to need greater cognitive resources when carrying out balance and
cognitive dual tasks (DT).
This study investigated DT interference during gait in
a middle-aged group of subjects with dizziness and unsteadiness after unilateral
vestibular neuronitis and in a healthy control group. METHODS: Fourteen
individuals with subacute unilateral vestibular impairment after neuronitis and
seventeen healthy subjects performed gait and cognitive tasks in single and DT
conditions. A statistical gait analysis system was used and spatio-temporal
parameters were considered. The cognitive task, consisting of backward counting
by three, was tape recorded and the number of right figures was then calculated.
RESULTS: Both patients and controls showed a more conservative gait during DT and
between groups significant differences were not found. A significant decrease in
cognitive performance during DT was found only in the vestibular group.
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that less attentional resources are available during
gait in vestibular patients compared to controls, and that a priority is given in
keeping up the motor task to the detriment of a decrease of the cognitive
performance during DT.

Langue : ANGLAIS