Comparison of Exergaming and Vestibular Training on Gaze Stability, Balance and Gait Performance of Older Adults.

According to a recent report by 2050, the global adult population between the age 65 and above is expected to increase to 28%. A total of 12.13 million people in Pakistan are above age of 60, which is expected to raise to 17.53 million by 2025. A high quality of life as well as longevity is considered important in older adults.However, characteristics of aging include a decrease in muscle strength, balance and decreased vestibular functions can lead to falls and compromise good health in older adults.

Vestibular rehabilitation is an exercised based program intended to alleviate both primary and secondary problems caused by vestibular disorders.The main focus of vestibular rehabilitation is to use the existing vestibular system for gaze, postural stability and gait by use of somatosensory and visual cues. Depending on the vestibular disorders three main types of exercises are used. Habituation Gaze stability exercises ,Balance training. Habituation exercises are indicated for patients who complain of dizziness during quick head movements and when they change position like when they bend over or look up to reach above their head. The goal of habituation exercise is to reduce the dizziness through repeated exposure to specific movements or visual stimuli that provoke patient's dizziness.

Gaze stability exercises include eyeball movement, saccadic eye movement, pursuit eye movement, vergence eye movement, vestibular-ocular reflex exercise. These exercises improve the static balance control thus improves postural control required for vestibular function and can be mediated by VSR improvements. These exercises are useful in bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Balance training are used to improve standing, bending, reaching and performance of dual tasks on even and uneven surfaces. These exercises proved to be effective in making individuals do activities of daily livings and prevents the risks of falls.

Computer based technology is becoming popular in rehabilitation. It stimulates learning in real-life environment and provides a 3-dimensional sensory feedback. A computer-generated technology allows the user to interact with a virtual world and to make correction during performing an exercise task. In particular, previous studies have suggested that new technology, such as the Wii Fit Board (WFB) can be used for balance training using virtual reality These games have showed repeated good results in vestibular rehabilitation of elderly.Virtual reality enables the individual to be physically active and provides a pleasant and motivating way of training in these individuals.

There are literature for the safe and effective use of exergaming in improving gaze stability, balance and postural control in older individuals Jaap Swanenburg et al concluded that exergaming is effective in improving gaze stability, balance and postural control in older adults .Lynne M Taylor showed that active video games proved to be effective in improving balance and gait in older individuals .J Hashim concluded that Exergames improved dynamic balance in older adults when compared with conventional exercises.