Learning effects and the sensory organization test: Influence of a unilateral peripheral vestibular impairment

Purpose: Healthy young controls exhibit a learning effect after undergoing repeated administrations of the sensory organization test (SOT). The primary objective of the present experiment was to determine if an SOT learning effect is present in individuals with a unilateral vestibular impairment (UVI), and if so, whether it is different from healthy controls. The secondary objective was to determine if the learning effect is dependent on the time frame of repeated SOT assessments. Method: Eleven individuals diagnosed with a UVI and 11 controls underwent 6 repetitions of the SOT over 2 visits (3 per visit all within 1 week). A second control group underwent 3 SOT repetitions, with each repetition separated by 1 week, to evaluate the time course of the SOT learning effect. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the UVI group and the control group. In addition, the magnitude of the learning effect was found to be similar regardless of the length of time that separated the repetitions. Conclusions: If the SOT is to be used as a measure of improvement, the learning effect should be exhausted (which typically occurs following the third administration) prior to the introduction of therapy. Future research should further investigate the results from those with other vestibular pathologies.