Effects of balance, coordination, and strength training in children with low vision: a randomized controlled study

To investigate the effects of an eight-week physiotherapy program focusing on balance, coordination, and muscle strengthening on gait, mobility, posture, and motor proficiency in children with low vision.

Twenty-two children aged 7-14 years with ophthalmologist-diagnosed low vision, based on World Health Organization criteria, were randomly assigned to treatment (n=10) or control (n=12) groups. The treatment group completed three 75-minute sessions per week for eight weeks, including balance, coordination, and muscle-strengthening exercises. Outcomes were assessed using the BOT-2 Short Form, New York Posture Assessment Test, Lovett muscle grading, and BTS G-Walk. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 25.0.

The treatment group showed significant pre- to post-intervention gains in total BOT-2 SF scores and in subscales related to fine motor integration, bilateral coordination, running speed, agility, and strength (p<0.05), with small to moderate effect sizes (Cohen's d ≈ 0.30-0.90). The control group demonstrated smaller improvements, significant only in some subscales. Postural alignment increased significantly in both groups, with greater effect observed in the treatment group (Cohen's d=0.74) (p<0.05). Gait analysis revealed increases in left step length and right pelvic propulsion only in the treatment group (p<0.05), whereas no significant changes were observed in the remaining spatiotemporal gait parameters. Manual muscle testing showed strength gains in both groups, with no statistically significant differences between them.

An eight-week, thrice-weekly physiotherapy-based balance, coordination, and strengthening program improves motor proficiency, posture, gait, and muscle strength in children with low vision, supporting its use in pediatric rehabilitation.