Comparison Between Effects of Galvanic and Vibration-Based Vestibular Stimulation on Postural Control and Gait Performance in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review of Cross-Sectional Studies

Electricity and vibration were two commonly used physical agents to provide vestibular stimulation in previous studies. This study aimed to systematically review the effects of galvanic (GVS) and vibration-based vestibular stimulation (VVS) on gait performance and postural control in healthy participants. Five bioscience and engineering databases, including MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL via EBSCO, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Embase, were searched until March 19th, 2023. Studies published between 2000 and 2023 in English involving GVS and VVS related to gait performance and postural control were included. The procedure was followed via the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the NIH study quality assessment tool for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies. A total of 55 cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Five studies were good-quality while 49 were moderate-quality and 1 was poor-quality. There were 50 included studies involving GVS and 5 included studies involving VVS. GVS and VVS utilized different physical agents to provide vestibular stimulation and demonstrated similar effects on vestibular perception. Supra-threshold GVS and VVS produced vestibular perturbation that impaired gait performance and postural control, while sub-threshold GVS and VVS induced stochastic resonance phenomenon that led to an improvement. Bilateral vestibular stimulation demonstrated a greater effect on gait and posture than unilateral vestibular stimulation. Compared to GVS, VVS had the characteristics of better tolerance and fewer side effects, which may substitute GVS to provide more acceptable vestibular stimulation.