Young children with severe or profound sensorineural hearing impairment (SNHI) have motor and postural control deficits related to a vestibular deficit. The ability of these children to participate in educational and social activities with hearing peers is diminished. However, these deficits are rarely identified since the focus of special education for this population is communication and reading ability, and vestibular function is rarely tested. Although the efficacy of treatment programs to address balance and movement deficits in adults with vestibular dysfunction is documented, it is lacking in children. The proposed study will examine the effect of a physical therapy intervention program designed to identify and address motor and postural control impairments in young children with SNHI. The investigator hypothesizes that 1) participation in exercise intervention will result in improved motor and balance development, evidenced by improved standardized z and age equivalent scores on the Gross Motor Scale of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS) and 2) participation in an exercise intervention will result in improved postural control as indicated by improved posturography scores on the Balance Master. Objectives: 1) Test 3- to 8.5-year old children with SNHI on the PDMS pre- and post-intervention, 2) perform posturography on these subjects, 3) implement an exercise intervention using a wait-listed design with sham control. Children will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups and matched for motor, vestibular and posturography scores. Results that support the hypotheses will provide support for a future research on this topic.
| Rine, Rose Marie; Braswell, Jennifer; Fisher, Donna et al. (2004) Improvement of motor development and postural control following intervention in children with sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular impairment. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 68:1141-8 |
