Vestibular impairments affect patients' movements and can result in difficulties with daily life activities. The main aim of this study is to answer the question whether a simple and short test such as rotation about a vertical axis can be an objective method of assessing balance dysfunction in patients with unilateral vestibular impairments. A 360˚ rotation test was performed using six MediPost devices. The analysis was performed in three ways: (1) the analytical approach based only on data from one sensor; (2) the analytical approach based on data from six sensors; (3) the artificial neural network (ANN) approach based on data from six sensors. For approaches 1 and 2 best results were obtained using maximum angular velocities (MAV) of rotation and rotation duration (RD), while approach 3 used 11 different features. The following sensitivities and specificities were achieved: for approach 1: MAV-80% and 60%, RD-69% and 74%; for approach 2: 61% and 85% and RD-74% and 56%; for approach 3: 88% and 84%. The ANN-based six-sensor approach revealed the best sensitivity and specificity among parameters studied, however one-sensor approach might be a simple screening test used e.g. for rehabilitation purposes.
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