Clinical trial: "Can A Prescribed Walking Program With or Without Monitoring Impact Dizziness in the Older Adults?" (NCT03403400)

Eligibility criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

          1. Age 65 years or older referred for physical therapy evaluation for symptoms of
             dizziness, postural instability, or both

          2. Able to walk without the physical help of another person, with or with no assistive
             device

          3. Able to follow commands and execute the examination and intervention instructions in
             the English language

          4. Willing to participate in a phone interview four weeks after discharge

          5. Able to provide informed consent

        Exclusion Criteria:

          1. Unstable medical issues, such as unstable or uncontrolled cardiovascular conditions,
             elevated blood pressure (Systolic greater than or equal to 140mmHg and diastolic
             greater than or equal to 90mmHg), orthostatic hypotension (a fall in systolic blood
             pressure of at least 20mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of at least 10mmHg when a
             person stands from a sitting or lying down position), uncontrolled metabolic disease,
             as determined by the evaluating physical therapist, documented in the Functional
             Comorbidity Index, vital signs and assessment portion of the initial evaluation.

          2. History of falls from syncopal origin

          3. Dizziness of central origin, such as stroke, head injuries, MS or PD;

          4. Active BPPV (patients with positive dix hallpike and/or roll test)

          5. Inability to walk without physical assistance.
No condition on gender to be admitted to the trial.
No healthy subjects accepted to join the trial.
Subject must be at least 65 Years old.


Patient description (medical language): A 47-year-old woman comes to the clinic complaining of dizziness.  She also has occasional nausea and ringing in her right ear.  The patient also has difficulty hearing while holding her phone to the left ear, although hearing in her right ear is normal.  The dizziness improves spontaneously, and she feels fine between episodes.  Past medical history is notable for hypothyroidism and low vit D level, for which she is using Levothyroxine and Vit D pearl.  She does not use tobacco or drink alcohol. Physical examination shows sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear. She has only one-man sexual partner and menopaused 2 years ago.

Patient description (patient's own words): The other day, I had to go to the clinic due to severe dizziness. I'm 47 years old, and I've been suffering from nausea and ringing in my right ear. I also have difficulty hearing in my left ear while I hold my phone, even if my hearing in my right ear is normal. The dizziness just gets me all of a sudden but I don't have any symptoms in between 2 episodes. I suffer from hypothyroidism and low vitamin D levels. So I take Levothyrox and vitamin D pearl. I don't smoke or drink. They conducted a physical exam and said I had hearing loss in my left ear. My only partner is my husband, and I'm menopause for 2 years now.

Does the patient match the trial criteria? 0