HearingTracker
Journal article · Vestibular← The news desk

✦ The Dispatch

The effect of combined cognitive behavioral therapy and rehabilitation training on negative emotions of patients with vestibular dysfunction: a real-world cohort study

A dispatch from PubMed — filed

This study evaluated the association of combined cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and rehabilitation training with improvements in vestibular dysfunction and negative emotions based on real-world clinical practice.

Continue reading at PubMed

✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦

Combined CBT and vestibular rehabilitation training appears associated with meaningful reductions in negative emotions and functional impairment in vestibular dysfunction patients; audiologists and vestibular specialists should consider advocating for multidisciplinary care pathways that include psychological support.

✦ Why It Matters ✦

Vestibular disorders carry a high psychological burden, and this real-world cohort supports the value of integrating CBT with physical rehabilitation — a combination not yet standard in most audiology-led balance clinics.

✦ Key Points ✦
  1. 01Real-world cohort study design; not a randomized controlled trial.
  2. 02Combined CBT + rehabilitation training associated with reduced anxiety and depression in vestibular dysfunction patients.
  3. 03Functional outcomes (balance, daily activities) also improved in the combined-treatment group.
  4. 04Findings highlight a gap: psychological co-treatment is rarely embedded in vestibular rehabilitation programs.
  5. 05Published in Frontiers in Public Health (doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1923062).
✦ Claims & Evidence ✦

Combined CBT and rehabilitation training improves negative emotions (anxiety/depression) in patients with vestibular dysfunction.

studypartially supported

Combined CBT and rehabilitation training improves functional outcomes in vestibular dysfunction patients.

studypartially supported
✦ Research metadata ✦
PMID
42780373
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2026.1923062.
Journal
Frontiers in Public Health
Publication type
research_article
Evidence level
2b
Population
Patients with vestibular dysfunction experiencing negative emotions
Intervention
Combined cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and vestibular rehabilitation training
Comparator
Standard rehabilitation training alone or usual care

Primary outcomes

Negative emotion scores (anxiety and depression measures); Vestibular functional outcomes

✦ Related stories ✦
PU
PubMed·Clinical trial·Vestibular·

Efficacy of Incremental Vestibular Ocular Reflex Adaptation Training on Gait, Balance, and Quality of Life in Individuals With Chronic Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction: A Randomized Controlled Trial

If results favour the intervention, audiologists and vestibular rehabilitation specialists should consider incremental VOR adaptation training as a structured add-on or alternative to standard vestibular rehabilitation for chronic peripheral vestibular hypofunction patients.

PU
PubMed·Journal article·Vestibular·

Comparative efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions for persistent postural-perceptual dizziness: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of balance, anxiety, and depression outcomes

Audiologists and vestibular specialists managing PPPD should review the ranked treatment outcomes from this network meta-analysis to inform which non-pharmacological interventions — such as vestibular rehabilitation, CBT, or mindfulness — are most likely to address balance,...