Examining the Impact of Cochlear Implantation on the Early Gross Motor Development of Children With a Hearing Loss

Abstract

This study shows that the trajectory of gross motor development can be changed in children with a hearing loss after a cochlear implantation. Implanted children show a drop in their gross motor performance within the age range of 6 to 18 months, at which period the majority of the implantations took place, with a tendency of recovery toward the age of 2 years. However, longer follow-up will be necessary to trace whether the implanted children catch up their motor delay in comparison with nonimplanted children with a hearing loss at later age.

Subjective and objective vestibular changes that occur following paediatric cochlear implantation: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Cochlear implantation can potentially lead to disruption of saccular function in pediatric patients. Review of the literature would suggest there is a significant risk for increase in abnormal VEMP responses in pediatric patients undergoing cochlear implantation, with a relative risk of 1.8 ( p < 0.001) despite several individual studies that did not display significant results [19, 20, 22, 23, 26]. These findings support similar findings published in a recent systematic review studying vestibular outcomes after adult cochlear implantation, showing a log relative risk of 0.5099 ( p < 0.0001) after an analysis of 12 separate studies published since 2008 [9].…”

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

“…Poor motor performance does not appear to affect self-efficacy in HI children [10], but it has been related to language deficiencies, poorer symbolic play, emotion dysregulation and social difficulties in interacting with other children [8,11]. 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].…”

“…Coordination is present in all motor functions (e.g., visuomotor, bimanual …). In gross motor function, coordination is refined later in HI children, who will achieve accurate execution of large body actions (e.g., running) in older ages than NH children [12]. Thus, motor skills such as catching a ball, requiring visuomotor, spatial and temporal coordination, are impaired longer in HI children, with higher reaction times than NH children [33].…”

Using Balance Function to Screen for Vestibular Impairment in Children With Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Cochlear Implants

“…It is important to identify vestibular impairment in children with SNHL for a number of reasons. First, these children will have motor delay and may benefit from early therapy (9)(10)(11). In addition, identifying vestibular impairment in a child with SNHL may help tailor the etiologic workup.…”