Barbara Baker

Doctoral Dissertation Announcement

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Candidate: Barbara Baker

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Interdisciplinary Health Services

Title: Vestibular Functioning in Migraines: Comparing Those with and without Vertigo

Committee:
Dr. Amy B. Curtis, Chair
Dr. Eric Vangsnes
Dr. Peggy Trueblood

Date: Thursday, June 21, 2012 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
College of Health and Human Services, Room 2024

Abstract:
The purpose of this three-paper dissertation was to compare migrainous vertigo (MV) and migraine without vertigo (MØV) to determine if there were any differences in body functioning and structure, activities and participation as defined by the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning.  Understanding these differences may assist in planning vestibular rehabilitation assessment and treatment.
The first paper was a pilot study that examined body functioning and structure (vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) and vestibular spinal reflex (VSR)), and activities (gait) in those with MV (n=10) and MØV (n=10) during a nonmigrainous period.  The gaze stabilization test (GST) and the dynamic visual acuity test (DVA) were used to determine the VOR, the sensory organization test (SOT) and head shake sensory organization test (HS-SOT) were used for the VSR and the functional gait assessment (FGA) to examine activities.  There were no differences found in VOR and VSR between the groups, but the MV group scored worse on the FGA (p<.003).
The second paper examined body function and structure (VOR and VSR), and activities (gait) in those with MV (n=22) and MØV (n=22) compared to a control group (n=22) while nonmigrainous. Differences were found between the groups for measures of the VOR and activities.  The control group scored statistically better on the GST in pitch than both the MØV and MV group combined (p<.003) and both the MV (26.0, p<.0001) and MØV groups (27.8, p<.0001) differed statistically from each other and from the control group (29.5, p<.0001) on the FGA.
The third paper compared MV (n=19) and MØV (n=19) groups on  participation as measured by the Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living (VADL), a quality of life (QOL) assessment, during both a nonmigrainous and migrainous period. The groups did not differ from each other during a nonmigrainous period, but the MV group reported lower QOL during a migrainous period (p<.001).  In addition, both groups had lower QOL during a migrainous period as compared to a nonmigrainous period (p<.0001 for MØV and MV).  These data suggest vestibular rehabilitation focused on the VOR and activities would be most beneficial to those with MV.