Use of a Vibrotactile Balance Belt System for Vestibular Rehabilitation in the Pediatric Population

The investigators will conduct a randomized pilot trial to examine the efficacy of the vibrotactile balance belt on vestibular rehabilitation in the pediatric population. All consented patients will be randomly allocated by a statistician to either the experimental group where participants will undergo SKBRS exercises in addition to their routine vestibular rehabilitation regimen, or to the control group where participants will undergo routine vestibular rehabilitation exercises without the SKBRS. All subjects will undergo weekly vestibular rehabilitation sessions for 3 months (a total of 12 sessions). During these sessions, standard balance training exercises will be done at the discretion of the therapists. Experimental subjects will also undergo 15 minutes of SKBRS exercises during each standard vestibular rehabilitation session. This device uses video-based exercises and a non-invasive vibrotactile belt to measure the subject's position in space and trunk tilt/sway while performing various balance tasks. All subjects will undergo the following 3 routine tests throughout the course of the therapy to determine their progress: The Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) to measure the subject's static balance, the Clinical Test of Sensory Integration and Balance (CTSIB), an office-based version of the computerized dynamic posturography test, and the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), which measures dynamic balance. Finally, the investigators will ask all subjects to provide their subjective opinion of their vestibular rehabilitation program and their opinion of the SKBRS by filling out questionnaires. The primary outcome measure is a comparison of relative balance improvement between subjects who underwent standard vestibular rehabilitation exercises and those who underwent additional therapy with the SKBRS during their rehab sessions. This progress will be measured by the degree of change in the BESS, CTSIB, and DGI scores between subjects' first and final vestibular rehabilitation sessions. The secondary outcome will be the subjects' subjective assessments of the effectiveness of their vestibular rehabilitation (measured by the VRBQ) as well as the experimental subjects' feedback on the SKBRS device (measured by the SKBRS feedback survey).