Impaired body balance control in adults with strabismus

Previous studies revealed that people with binocular vision disorders have poor postural stability. However, most of the research was performed only on children and under binocular viewing condition, that could negatively affect the results. The aim of the current study was to investigate the influence of extra-ocular proprioceptive signals on postural stability in young adults with binocular vision disorders. Moreover, additional mental task was introduced to detect any postural compensation which could possibly hide the real influence of afferent extra-ocular signals. 21 Subjects, aged 18-45 yrs, with horizontal strabismus, were qualified to binocular vision disorders (BVD) group. 41 subjects, aged 19-45 yrs, with no strabismus formed the normal binocular vision (NBV) group. Posturography data were collected in 2 separate parts: (1) quiet standing (Single-Task), and (2) performance of a mental task while standing (Dual-Task). Each part consisted of three 60-s viewing conditions, with: (1) dominant/fellow eye (DE), (2) non-dominant/strabismic eye (NDE), and with (3) both eyes closed (EC). Subjects were looking at X located at the distance of 150 cm. Generally, BVD group showed elevated body balance during quiet stance compared to NBV group. Interestingly, better stabilization in BVD group occurred under NDE viewing. Surprisingly, additional mental task improved the postural stability in BVD group almost to the level of NBV group. These findings emphasize the role of the eye-muscle signals in postural control and suggest that suitable vision therapy can be the appropriate way to improve body balance/motor functions in people with binocular vision disorders.