Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
People with Parkinson's disease (PD) develop postural imbalance and falls. Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) may potentially improve postural balance in humans and hence reduce falls in PD. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigate the effects of GVS on postural balance in PD. Six separate databases and research registers were searched for cross-over design trials that evaluated the effects of GVS on postural balance in PD. We used standardized mean difference (Hedges' g) as a measure of effect size in all studies. We screened 223 studies, evaluated 14, of which five qualified for the meta-analysis. Among n = 40 patients in five studies (range n = 5 to 13), using a fixed effects model we found an effect size estimate of g = 0.43 (p 0.05, 95% CI - 0.17, 1.41, I2 = 96.21%). Egger's test was not significant and thus trim and funnel plot indicated no bias. To reduce heterogeneity, we performed sensitivity analysis and by removing one outlier study (n = 7 patients), we found an effect size estimate of 0.16 (p < 0.05, 95% CI 0.01, 0.31, I2 = 0%). Our meta-analysis found GVS has a favourable effect on postural balance in PD patients, but due to limited literature and inconsistent methodologies, this favourable effect must be interpreted with caution.
Mahmud et al. (Fri,) studied this question.