Evaluation of balance in children with sensorineural hearing loss according to age

Hearing is an important sensory skill for psychomotor development. As the cochlea and vestibule share the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear, children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) may have vestibular dysfunction. This study aimed to evaluate static, dynamic, functional balance, and mobility as a whole in children with SNHL.

Eighty children, 40 with bilateral severe-to-profound SNHL (20 children between the ages of 6-10 were included in the Group 1, and 20 children between the ages of 11-15 were included in the Group 2) and 40 with normal-hearing (the Group 3 included 20 children between the ages of 6-10 and the Group 4 of 20 children between the ages of 11-15) were included in the study. The Single-Leg Stance (SLS) Test, Functional Reach Test (FRT), Time Up and Go (TUG) Test, and Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) were used to evaluate the balance skills of children.

The present study found out that children with SNHL in both age groups performed worse than those with normal-hearing in FRT, SLS, and PBS. In the TUG test, children with SNHL in the younger age group had lower performance compared to their peers with normal-hearing while the TUG performance of children with SNHL in the older age group was similar to their normal-hearing peers.

It was concluded that the static, dynamic and functional balance skills of children with SNHL were impaired compared to their normal-hearing peers. Including balance assessment in the routine test battery in children with SNHL may be decisive for early diagnosis and rehabilitation of balance disorders. It may be beneficial to add static, dynamic and functional balance tests to the test battery in addition to mobility assessment, especially in children with SNHL in the older age groups.