Supervisor: Prof. Alia Alghwiri.
Student Name: Amaal Twaisi.
Title of Amaal's Thesis: "Vestibular impairments and their correlates among contact sports athletes with and without a history of sport-related concussion".
Summary of Ammal's Thesis: Sport-related concussion (SRC) has gained greater attention recently due to its debilitating effect on athletes' quality of life, sports performance, and return to play (Gard et al., 2022). Several impairments have been identified after getting SRC with balance and vestibular ones were considered the worst (Gard et al., 2022). Therefore, recent studies reported the need to further investigate balance and vestibular impairments after SRC (Gard et al., 2022; Patricios, Schneider, Dvorak, et al., 2023). Specifically, the association between vestibular impairments after SRC and common post-concussive symptoms such as poor quality of life (QOL), sleep disorders, and mental health deficits have not been investigated before in athletes after SRC (Ludwig, D'Silva, Vaduvathiriyan, Rippee, & Siengsukon, 2020; Manley et al., 2017).
Student Name: Madlien Al-Omari.
Title of Madlien's Thesis: "The Effect of Virtual reality on Improving Quality of Sleep and Reducing Fear of Falling in People with Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD): A Randomized Controlled".
Summary of Madlien's Thesis: The study investigated the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) compared to vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) on balance in people with persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD). Forty individuals with PPPD were divided into two groups: those who underwent VR with optokinetic stimulation and VRT, and those who underwent VR and VRT alone. Results showed that VR and VRT combined effectively improved balance and managed PPPD symptoms. VR gear goggles were found to be safe and cost-effective for managing PPPD.
Student Name: Esra'a Ghareeb.
Title of Esraa's Thesis: "The Effect of Virtual reality on Improving Quality of Sleep and Reducing Fear of Falling in People with Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD): A Randomized Controlled".
Summary of Esraa's Thesis: The study examined the relationship between sleep quality and the outcomes of vestibular disorders, including imbalance, dizziness, fear of falling, depression, anxiety, cognitive disorders, and quality of life. The research involved 40 patients with vestibular disorders, with 80% being females. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality, while balance and falls outcomes were assessed using various tools. The study found that 77.5% of patients with vestibular disorders had poor sleep quality, while 95% and 82.5% had FOF and moderate-to-severe perception of handicap due to dizziness. Significant correlations were found between PSQI global and component scores with female gender, ABC, FES-I, HADS, MOCA, and SF-12 scores. Poor sleep quality was associated with worse symptoms in FES-I, HADS-depression, and SF-12 compared to patients without sleep problems.