Balance Recovery Strategy in Children With and Without Hearing or Visual Impairments.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the balance recovery strategy in children with hearing (HI) and visual impairments (VI) compared with those without these disorders. Materials and Methods: This study featured a cross-sectional design with subjects (N = 45) placed within one of three equally stratified purposive groups (HI, VI, and comparison) within the age range of 9–13 years (mean = 11.43, SD = 1.5). Balance recovery strategy was measured in static and after-perturbation conditions by a four-camera Vicon system used to record three-dimensional lower body kinematic data. A repeated-measures analysis of variance (3 × 2, Group × Condition) was utilized to analyze data. Significance was set at p ≤.05. Results: In the static condition, the results of the study showed that there was no significant difference between the groups in the ankle joint sway (p >.05). In hip joint sway, VI children had greater sway compared with comparison (p =.001) and HI children (p =.02). Also, HI children had greater sways than comparison (p =.02). In the after-perturbation condition, the results showed that VI children had greater sway in the hip and ankle joints than HI children (p =.001) and comparison (p =.001) to restore and maintain balance. Conclusion: It seems that comparison as well as higher proportion VI children use a hip strategy to maintain and restore balance. Also, it seems that HI children use a different strategy (ankle strategy) to maintain and restore balance compared with comparison and VI children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]