The relationship between functional head impulse test and age in healthy individuals

Area of Science:

• Vestibular Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Gerontology

Background:

• The functional head impulse test (fHIT) provides a functional assessment of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR).
• Understanding normative age-related changes in fHIT performance is crucial for clinical interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the correlation between age and the percentage of correct answers (%CA) in the fHIT among healthy individuals.
• To establish normative data for fHIT performance across different age groups.

Main Methods:

• 105 healthy volunteers (18-70 years) participated.
• The Beon Solution fHIT system was utilized for data collection.
• Correlation analysis was performed between age and %CA for each semicircular canal (SCC).

Main Results:

• A decrease in mean %CA was observed with increasing age across all SCCs.
• Significant negative correlations were found between age and %CA in lateral (r=-0.311) and posterior (r=-0.257) SCCs (p<0.05).
• No significant relationship was observed between age and %CA in anterior SCCs (p>0.05).

Conclusions:

• Age is associated with reduced fHIT performance in healthy individuals, particularly in lateral and posterior SCCs.
• These findings provide normative data that can aid in identifying pathological VOR changes in vestibular disorders.
• The study highlights the utility of fHIT in assessing age-related vestibular function and its potential for clinical diagnostics.