The influence of a vestibular dysfunction on the motor development of hearing-impaired children.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To identify the predictive ability of vestibular function test results on motor performance among hearing-impaired children.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

METHODS: Fifty-one typically developing children and 48 children with a unilateral (n = 9) or bilateral hearing impairment (n = 39) of more than 40 dB HL between 3 and 12 years were tested by the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (M ABC-2), clinical balance tests, posturography, rotatory chair testing, and vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP). From the group of hearing-impaired children, 23 had cochlear implants.

RESULTS: Balance performance on M ABC-2, clinical balance tests, as well as the sway velocity assessed by posturography in bipedal stance on a cushion with eyes closed and in unilateral stance differed significantly between both groups. Presence of a VEMP response is an important clinical parameter because comparison of the motor performance among hearing-impaired children between those with present and absent VEMPs showed significant differences in balance performance. The three most important predictor variables on motor performance by bivariate regression analyses are the vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) gain value of the rotatory chair test at 0.01 and 0.05 Hz frequency, as well as the VEMP asymmetry ratio. Multivariate regression analyses suggest that the VOR asymmetry value of the rotatory chair test at 0.05 Hz and the etiology of the hearing loss seem to have additional predictive value.

CONCLUSIONS: Hearing-impaired children are at risk for balance deficits. A combination of rotatory chair testing and VEMP testing can predict the balance performance.