Abstract
Introduction: To compare postural stability between children with hearing loss and age & gender matched children with typical hearing. Postural control is described as the ability of an individual to remain comfortably in a standing position, keeping his/her body stable and aligned against any external force. As the vestibular system is one of the sensory system responsible for regulating the postural control, these children may have reduced/poor postural control when compared to children with normal hearing. Methods: The study enrolled a convenient sample of 100 children (aged 7-18 years) into two groups: 50 with hearing loss and 50 with normal hearing. Children in the hearing-impaired group were included if they had sign language proficiency. Children with any musculoskeletal deformity of lower limb were excluded from both groups. A cross sectional observational study was conducted among two groups of children (a) hearing loss (b) normal hearing using Balance Error Scoring System. The subjects were instructed about all the six tasks (i) Double support (ii) One leg standing (iii)Tandem stance and each task was performed with closed eyes on ground and foam respectively. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 20. For between group analysis Mann-Whitney U Test was applied. Result: Statistical significant difference was noted in all the components of BESS scale with the p<0.05 except double support (on ground) component with p>0.05. Conclusion: Children with hearing loss presented with more instability in postural control than children with normal hearing of same age and gender. Implication: The study suggests that children with hearing loss have postural instability but their daily activities are not hampered because of masking of vestibular deficits, thus training the other two sensory systems (visual & somatosensory) should be focused on to avoid any anticipatory falls.
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