Temporal Adjusters Can Reduce Pain During the Video Head Impulse Test for Patients With Mongoloid Facial Features, Without Increasing the Slippage-Induced Artifacts

BACKGROUND: : The aim of this study was to determine whether the extent and intensity of pain caused by wearing goggles during the video head impulse test (vHIT) could be reduced by adjusting the direction in which the band pulls the goggles, without increasing the number of artifacts recorded during vHIT. METHODS: vHIT tests were performed in 65 healthy adult subjects, and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) were used to evaluate pain intensity. Temporal adjusters were used to adjust the direction in which the band pulls the goggles, without decreasing the tightness of the temple straps. Artifacts were compared by calculating the instantaneous gains at 40 ms, 60 ms, and 80 ms of head movement. RESULTS: : Maximum VAS and NRS of pain were significantly reduced from 22.0 ± 2.3 to 13.0 ± 1.7 and from 3.0 ± 0.2 to 2.0 ± 0.2 (both P < .0001). The VAS score without adjusters was significantly correlated with the improvement of the VAS score with temporal adjusters (P < .0001, r = 0.61). The higher the VAS score without adjusters, the greater the improvement in the VAS score with temporal adjusters. The instantaneous gains were close to 1.0 under both conditions. CONCLUSION: : The pain induced by the goggle was significantly mitigated with temporal adjusters in the bilateral temple strap. Using temporal adjusters is a useful and easy solution to reduce discomfort during vHIT, while maintaining the tightness of the strap to decrease the slippage-induced artifacts.