The effect of six weeks of vestibular stimulation training on the static and dynamic balance of children with hearing impairment

Background: The motion of the deaf is often inhospitable and without rhythm, and the imbalance in functionality is the root cause of such a phenomenon. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Vestibular Stimulation Training on functional balance in children hearing impaired.

Methods: This study was a semi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population included the children of preschool and pre-school children of Ghotbzadeh in Rasht city. Among the statistical population, 24 were available and randomly divided into two groups: control (12) and experimental (12 people). Experimental group performed weekly three sessions of Vestibular stimulation exercises for six weeks. Before and after the training period, the static and dynamic equilibrium was measured by the Bronkins-Oseretsky sub-test and the functional equilibrium was measured by the Timed Up and Go.

Results: There was a significant difference on the static equilibrium (p = 0.001), dynamic (p = 0.02) and functional (p = 0.001) in the experimental group after the intervention period.

Conclusion: The assessment of the balance of hearing impaired children showed improvement in their motor abilities after six weeks of Vestibular stimulation exercises Considering the results of this study and the importance of balance for hearing impaired, it is suggested that coaches, parents and authorities of special centers and schools use these exercises because of their simplicity, cheapness and side effects to improve the balance in the program for the rehabilitation of hearing impaired children.