• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.91-106
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is to review vestibulo-ocular reflex and vestibular rehabilitation for balace problem in elderly. Falling is a common problem associated with aging. Falling and the resulting consequences constitutes one of the most common and serious problems. Balance deficits are one of the top risk factors for falling. Three systems(visual, vestibular and somatosensory) need to be integrated and used to coordinate and control balance. During normal ambulation and head movement, the vestibulo-ocular reflex(VOR) stabilizes gaze, and helps to keep the image of the retina. There is a direct association between deficits in VOR and falls. Older adults have a decreased ability to enhance and suppress the VOR. Vestibular rehabilitation(VR) is an exercise-based group of approaches that began with the aim of central nervous system compensation. VR restores VOR gain and reduces error using repetitive movements of the head and eyes. Many researches showd balance and gait tests were superior in the VR group. It is considered this article helps to prevent elderly falling with vestibular rehabilitation.