Lien Van Laer

• Doctor of Medical Sciences (PhD)
• PostDoc Position at University of Antwerp

Background and Purpose The Timed Up and Go test (TUG) assesses dynamic balance performance. Motion sensors such as gyroscopes have enabled evaluation of the various subtasks of the TUG such as the 180° turn. As fast turning triggers the vestibular system, we hypothesize that the 180° turn is sensitive to change in individuals with unilateral vestib...

Background Patients with dizziness and unsteadiness are commonly prescribed gaze stability exercises at varying target distances to manage vestibular impairments but lack objective tools to monitor progress. Maintaining gaze stability during head motion at near distances demands greater eye velocity relative to head velocity due to vergence and inc...

Background and Purpose In individuals with unilateral vestibulopathy (UVP), physical activity (PA) is recommended to stimulate central vestibular compensation. However, the presence of fear avoidance beliefs might negatively influence PA. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between fear avoidance beliefs and PA and to...

Background/Objectives: Chronic unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH) can lead to disabling vestibular symptoms and a decrease in quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate etiologies, clinical subtypes, symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with chronic UVH. Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 251 UVH patient...

Objective Chronic dizziness after acute unilateral vestibulopathy (AUVP) causes significant social and economic burdens. This study aims to identify predictors of chronic dizziness. Study Design Prospective, longitudinal cohort study. Setting ENT departments from secondary and tertiary hospitals. Methods Participants meeting the Barany Society's...

Introduction Patients with chronic vestibular hypofunction typically suffer from dizziness, imbalance and oscillopsia (blurred vision); symptoms that pose challenges to everyday life. Currently, advice on how to deal with such challenges is mainly provided by health care professionals (i.e., ENT-surgeons, neurologists, physiotherapists and psycholo...

Background/introduction In persons with vestibular disorders, disturbed vestibular input and accompanying dizziness can be associated with anxiety or depression. To avoid dizziness, persons with vestibular disorders can develop mal-adaptive fear avoidance behaviors which can negatively influence daily life functioning. The aims of this study were t...

Purpose In case of an acute unilateral vestibulopathy (UVP), compensatory strategies such as restoration and adaptation will lead to a decrease in intensity of the symptoms. Although measurements of compensatory strategies are available, currently, an overview taking the different strategies into account is lacking. The objectives of this study are...

Objective To systematically evaluate the full spectrum of self-reported chronic symptoms in patients with unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH) and to investigate the effect of interventions on these symptoms. Methods A systematic review was conducted following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analy...

Introduction A vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection causes an acute unilateral vestibular deafferentation resulting in acute postoperative symptoms. Despite the expected resolution of most of the symptoms, due to central vestibular compensation, more than one out of four patients develop chronic dizziness. Several predictive factors, such as age an...