Balance in the Blind: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose: This paper reviews the studies on balance in the blind. Methods: The paper comprehensively reviewed studies on balance in the blind from the following databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials, Google Scholar, and Scopus, from 2001 to 2019. Also, other available papers were examined. Results: Out of 35 evaluated studies, 32 articles were fully represented and the rest were only summarized. These articles covered two issues: 1) balance adaptation in the blind, 2) the effects of training protocols on the balance in the blind. Conclusion: The blind suffer from poor balance. However, they tend not to differ from normal people, when sufficient data from the vestibular and proprioception systems are available. Also, balance in the blind improves by age, which increases the efficiency and maturity of vestibular and proprioception systems. The blind tend to be more reliant on the hip than ankle strategy. All the training protocols reviewed in this paper have positively affected balance in the blind. Nevertheless, it was impossible to determine the most efficient protocol, and further qualitative studies are required for this purpose.

The effects of balance and core stability training on postural control in people with visual impairment: A systematic review

“…There were no studies that examined at the effects of balance and core stability training on individuals visual impairment with the same goals as our systematic review. The main difference between this study and Daneshmandi et al’s (2021) article is that they examined the mechanisms of balance in people who are blind. In addition, they investigated the effects of different types of training on balance, and not on balance and core stability as a main intervention.…”

“…Vision plays an important role in processing and integrating other sensory systems as well as selecting appropriate strategies for postural control. The decreased or omitted vision as a perturbation in the most central sensory source leads to substantially negative effects on the movement control (Daneshmandi et al, 2021). Therefore, blindness imposes limitations in activities that can causes physical growth.…”

“…In general, lack of vision affects balance of the individuals’ performance and causes them to function poorly in balance control compared to their peers who are sighted (Zylka et al, 2013). People who are sighted, use their ankle joints more to overcome the external postural perturbation and maintain or recover their balance, while the people who are blind used their hip joints more (Daneshmandi et al, 2021). When people who are blind encounter a sensory disturbance or immediate perturbation, they most often rely on the somatosensory information as a preferred and superior balance system for better control of body posture and the balance recovery.…”

“…It seems that core stability training can have the potential to improve strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, speed, and fitness components (Granacher et al, 2014). Daneshmandi and colleagues (2021) investigated the balance adaptation for individuals who were blind and the effect of various training protocols such as water and physical training, treadmill, balance, Greek dance Pilates, core stability, whole body vibration, orientation and mobility, vestibular-stimulating, and Spark and Frenkel training on the static and dynamic balance. They found positive effects upon balance regardless of the type of protocols.…”

“…They found positive effects upon balance regardless of the type of protocols. However, the authors did not investigate the effects of balance and core stability training upon postural control or the optimal training protocols (Daneshmandi et al, 2021). Therefore, we are seeking to investigate the gaps in their systematic review more carefully.…”