Static and dynamic balance of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

Objective To assess the static and dynamic balance performance of students with normal hearing and with sensorineural hearing loss.Methods A cross-sectional study assessing 96 students, 48 with normal hearing and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss of both sexes, aged 7 and 18 years. To evaluate static balance, Romberg, Romberg-Barré and Fournier tests were used; and for the dynamic balance, we applied the Unterberger test.Results Hearing loss students showed more changes in static and dynamic balance as compared to normal hearing, in all tests used (p<0.001). The same difference was found when subjects were grouped by sex. For females, Romberg, Romberg-Barré, Fournier and Unterberger test p values were, respectively, p=0.004, p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.023; for males, the p values were p=0.009, p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.002, respectively. The same difference was observed when students were classified by age. For 7 to 10 years old students, the p values for Romberg, Romberg-Barré and Fournier tests were, respectively, p=0.007, p<0.001 and p=0.001; for those aged 11 and 14 years, the p values for Romberg, Romberg-Barré, Fournier and Unterberger tests were p=0.002, p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.015, respectively; and for those aged 15 and 18 years, the p values for Romberg-Barré, Fournier and Unterberger tests were, respectively, p=0.037, p<0.001 and p=0.037.Conclusion Hearing-loss students showed more changes in static and dynamic balance comparing to normal hearing of same sex and age groups.

Scoping Review of Systems to Train Psychomotor Skills in Hearing Impaired Children

“…Children with cochlear implanta show a drop in their gross motor performance coinciding with surgery, and a period of at least two years is needed to recover the developmental delay [12]. HI children exhibit worse gait performance than NH children, with abnormal ground reaction forces, higher propulsion and lower free movements [13,14]. Higher hearing impairment determines worse postural recovery and gait performance [14,15] and hearing aids and cochlear implants may help promote improvements in gait and stability during walking [16].…”

“…HI children may experience balance difficulties, especially those with vestibular deficits [23,24] or within the first year of cochlear implants, when children exhibit higher rates of vestibular loss [25,26,27,28]. Thus, HI children have shown lower stability limits, faster and higher body sway, and higher energy expenditure to keep balance than NH children, indicating a deficit in static and dynamic balance [14,26,29,30]. HI children tend to use visual feedback in a higher amount than NH children, especially when balance is compromised by sensory disturbance (e.g., irregular surface) and the risk of falling increases [29,30].…”

Similarities And Differences Concerning The Balance Capacity Of Sport Faculty Students

“…The vestibulo-cochlear system has a dual functionthe cochlea is responsible for the auditory function, and the vestibular system is responsible for body balance. However, hearing ability is actually a secondary feature, because the primary function of the auditory organ is to maintain body balance (Steindl, Kunz, Schrott-Fischer, & Scholtz, 2006;Northern & Downs, 2002;Melo et al, 2017). Maintenance of balance refers to the ability to respond to any small change by correcting the tension of the whole body.…”

An Investigation of the Effects of Exercises Applied on Unstable Surfaces on High School Students

“…On the other hand, with dynamic balance, both the center of mass and base of support are in constant movement and the center of gravity never aligns itself to the base of support during the stopping phase of the movement (Melo et al, 2017). Dynamic balance has vital importance for many sports and daily life activities, and has become an important aspect for displaying skill in complex movements and improving sport performance, and as a result has become an important subject for evaluating stability (Ringhof and Stein, 2018;Çelenk et al, 2018).…”