OBJECTIVE: To analyze how the vestibular rehabilitation therapy contributed to the recovery of patients suffering from idiopathic sudden hearing loss along with vertigo. METHOD(S): In the randomized controlled retrospective analysis, 87 patients who were diagnosed with idiopathic sudden hearing loss and vertigo in our hospital were assigned in line with a random number table to receive routine rehabilitation instruction (control group, n = 43) or vestibular rehabilitation therapy as intervention (observation group, n = 44). To compare the efficacy of the two therapies, DHI, SAS and SDS, pure tone audiometry threshold, and WHOQOL-BREF were considered as four indicators to evaluate anxiety, depression, hearing and quality of life, respectively. RESULT(S): (I) The observation group showed significantly lower DHI score with respect to vertigo severity than that of the control group after 1 month and 3 months of intervention (p < 0.05). (II) While downgrading was found of SAS and SDS in both groups post intervention, the observation group undergoing the vestibular rehabilitation therapy had markedly lower SAS and SDS scores (p < 0.05). (III) The pure tone audiometry thresholds of both groups decreased after 1 month and after 3 months of intervention, which was statistically significant (p < 0.05). (IV) In terms of quality of life, both groups were assessed at the above two time points through WHOQOL-BREF and got better results (p < 0.05), in contrast to the status before treatment. (V) The nursing satisfaction of the observation group was 95.45%, while that of the control group was 81.40% (Chi2 = 4.225, p = 0.040). CONCLUSION(S): Vestibular rehabilitation therapy deserved wide application as it might significantly alleviate vertigo and adverse psychological conditions, resulting in higher quality of life for patients whose idiopathic sudden hearing loss was accompanied by vertigo.

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