Chronic dizziness is a common complaint, especially among the elderly, and it has a major psychosocial and financial impact. Vestibular rehabilitation, an exercise therapy, is first choice of treatment in patients with chronic dizziness, but it is hardly used by general practitioners. Ineffective medications, on the other hand, are still regularly prescribed.
An earlier study developed Vertigo Training, an online version of vestibular rehabilitation, with the aim of making the treatment more accessible. Vertigo Training proved to be effective and safe. During the I-RECOVER research, a study funded by ZonMw, we will implement Vertigo Training nationwide. We will do this in three phases. In the first phase, we will investigate how often ineffective medications are still prescribed and why. We will use this information for the second phase, in which we will implement Vertigo Training. The treatment will be made accessible free of charge via website and app in the spring of 2023. In the third and final phase, we will evaluate the effect of the implementation.
By implementing Vertigo Training nationwide, we hope to encourage the use of vestibular rehabilitation and reduce the use of medications. The ultimate goal is to improve care in patients with chronic dizziness.
