Balance Function Assessment and Management

The third edition of Balance Function Assessment and Management, the leading textbook on the subject, continues to comprehensively address the assessment and treatment of balance system impairments through contributions from top experts in the areas of dizziness and vertigo. Designed for use in graduate audiology programs and by practicing audiologists, this is also a valuable text for those in the fields of physical therapy, otolaryngology, and neurology.

• Reorganized with the expertise of four additional Editors: Kamran Barin, PhD, Robert F. Burkard, PhD, Kristen Janky, AuD, PhD, and Devin L. McCaslin, PhD
• Three new chapters:
  • An Historical Perspective of the Perception of Vertigo, Dizziness, and Vestibular Medicine (Zalewski)
  • Vestibular Balance Therapy for Children (Christy)
  • Challenging Cases (Shepard)
• All existing chapters have been revised and updated
• An effort has been made to make the text more concise
• Three new helpful appendices:
  • Appendix I covers the pathophysiology behind dizziness. The authors provide a list of disorders that cause symptoms of dizziness and balance disorders going from common peripheral disorders to rare central disorders. For each of the disorders a vignette is included that provides the symptoms, test findings, treatments, prognosis, and site-of-lesion.
  • Appendix II deals with the development of codes that are used for billing services. The discussion includes the movement in the United States for changing to Alternative Payment Models; reimbursement based on quality of care and away from fee-for-service billing.
  • Appendix III provides an overview of interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional practice (IPP) and how the hope is that IPE will lead to IPP.

As with prior editions, the text comes with access to a PluralPlus companion website that contains videos of eye movements associated with the cases described in the text and PowerPoint lecture slides for instructors.

Reviews of the Previous Edition

"...A well written textbook and necessary resource covering all aspects of balance function and remediation. ...This text is well researched, with comprehensive and appropriate references for further review. In addition, the videos supplied on the companion website are effective supplemental learning tools for the clinical concepts discussed throughout the text. Moreover, nearly all chapters provide clinical cases or clinical examples to reinforce clinical decisions for best care. Overall, this is an excellent compilation of the most state-of-the art assessment and management topics and techniques that I will most certainly include for my graduate students and for my own reference in clinical practice."
—Julie Honaker, PhD, Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, in the International Journal of Audiology (2015)

"To summarize, this book provides a comprehensive review of topics in assessment of balance and vestibular function, as well as management options of vertigo and imbalance. The contents are up to date and it can be a resourceful text for audiologists, otolaryngologists, neurologists and other clinicians who may have an interest in this field."
—Guangwei Zhou, Balance and Vestibular Program, Department of Otolaryngology & Communication Enhancement, Boston Children's Hospital at Waltham, in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology (2016)

Gary P. Jacobson, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences and Director of the Divisions of Audiology and Vestibular Sciences at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Prior to that he served as the Director, Division of Audiology for the Henry Ford Health System. He completed his undergraduate studies at California State University at Fullerton. He received his MS in Communicative Disorders (Audiology) at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and received his PhD from Kent State University. He is a past-editor of the American Journal of Audiology (ASHA) and is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA). Dr. Jacobson has authored or co-authored 120 peer-reviewed publications and has co-edited 4 textbooks in the area of vestibular system function. Dr. Jacobson is a Fellow of ASHA and recipient of ASHA’s highest honor, the Honors of the Association. Dr. Jacobson received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Balance Society. Lastly, he received both the Distinguished Achievement Award and the Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology from the American Academy of Audiology.

Neil T. Shepard, PhD is director of the Dizziness and Balance Disorders Program at Mayo Clinic - Rochester, Minnesota, and a professor of audiology in the Mayo Clinical School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate and master's training in electrical and biomedical engineering from University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts). He completed his PhD in auditory electrophysiology and clinical audiology from the University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa) in 1979. He has specialized in clinical electrophysiology for both the auditory and vestibular systems. Activity over the last 34 years has concentrated on the clinical assessment and rehabilitation of patients with balance disorders and clinical research endeavors related to both assessment and rehabilitation.

Kamran Barin, PhD is Assistant Professor Emeritus, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery and Department of Speech & Hearing Science, The Ohio State University. He established and served as the Director of Balance Disorders Clinic at the Ohio State University Medical Center for over 25 years until his retirement in June 2011. Dr. Barin received his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Electrical/Biomedical Engineering from the Ohio State University. He has published over 80 articles and book chapters and has taught national and international courses and seminars in different areas of vestibular assessment and rehabilitation. Dr. Barin has served on the Board of Directors of the Vestibular Disorders Association (VeDA) since 2017 and is currently a consultant to Interacoustics and Bertec Corp. He previously served as a consultant to Otometrics.

Robert Burkard, Ph.D., CCC-A is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science, University at Buffalo. His research interests include calibration, auditory electrophysiology (in particular, auditory evoked potentials), vestibular/balance function/dysfunction, functional imaging and aging. His professional interests include health care economics and interprofessional education/practice.