Balance Performance in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Hearing loss impacts children's ability to learn language and motor skills. This study examined the postural control differences between children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) and typical hearing (TH), who differ in language and literacy performance, across diverse balance tasks.

Thirty-three children between the ages of 6 and 13 performed a battery of balance tasks evaluating postural control and mobility. Twenty-six children were classified as DHH, while seven were TH children. Children participated in an extended battery of language and literacy measures, not unlike an intense academic day schedule. Assessments of postural control were conducted during a pre- and post-fatigue state.

Children who are DHH exhibited lower degrees of balance than TH children across the clinical, static, and dynamic balance evaluations.

Our findings provide evidence of robust balance impairments for children who are DHH beyond standard clinical evaluations. Fatigue effects induced by testing had a greater impact on TH than DHH children, which may be related to chronic fatigue traits in DHH children. Overall, the results underscore the importance of characterizing balance impairments of children with hearing loss and determining the degree of impact on activities like academics.