Vestibular and Postural Function in Children Suspected of Balance Disorders

Summary

The goal of this prospective cohort study is to investigate the vestibular function in children suspected of balance disorders, and to follow up on their balance progressions after rehabilitation. The main hypothesis of the study is that delayed gross motor development and symptoms of dizziness and balance problems in some children are caused by vestibular dysfunction. The investigators expect that early detection and rehabilitation by a physiotherapist will improve the balance ability for the child. The participants will be children in the age of 6 months to 10 years with delayed gross motor development and/or with dizziness/balance problems. The test protocol consists of questionnaires, hearing screening and vestibular and postural assessments.

Conditions

• Children, Only
• Vestibular Disorder
• Vestibular Function Disorder
• Development Delay

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

video Head Impulse Test

For v-HIT, the Synapsys v-HIT Ulmer device is used.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential

For cVEMP, the Eclipse (Interacoustic, Middelfart, Denmark) is used. To bypass the frequent middle ear problems bone conduction stimuli (B-81, Interacoustic, Middelfart, Denmark) are administrated. The bone conductor is placed on the mastoid process and two trials at 70 dB nHL are conducted to check waveform reproducibility. 500 Hz short tone bursts (2-2-2 ms) are applied at 5 per second stimulus repetition rate.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential

For oVEMP, the Eclipse (Interacoustic, Middelfart, Denmark) is used. To bypass the frequent middle ear problems bone conduction stimuli (B-81, Interacoustic, Middelfart, Denmark) are administrated. The bone conductor is placed on the mastoid process and two trials at 70 dB nHL are conducted to check waveform reproducibility. 500 Hz short tone bursts (2-2-2 ms) are applied at 5 per second stimulus repetition rate.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Computerized Dynamic Posturography

To evaluate functional balance of the children and the relative contributions of the vision, proprioception, and vestibular system a CDP from Virtualis (Virtualis, Montpellier, France) is used.

OTHER

Dizziness Handicap Inventory for patient caregivers

DHI is a caregiver-reported 21- item questionnaire. It is designed to evaluate the perceived quality of life and handicap resulting from dizziness and unsteadiness for the pediatric population. For each question there are three possible answers: yes, sometimes or no. Each answer provides respectively 4, 2 and 0 points. The total DHI scores range from 0 to 84 with higher score being consistent with more limitation and more severe handicap. Scores under 16 are characterized as no limitation or handicap. A score from 16-26 present a mild perceived handicap and mild limitations. A DHI-score between 26-43 is classified as a moderate problem, and a score above 43 describes a severe perceived handicap and severe limitations.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Gødstrup Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Therese Ovesen, Professor · University Clinic for Balance, Flavour and Sleep, Department of ENT, Gødstrup Hospital, DK

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

10 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-08-20

Primary Completion

2028-01-31

Completion

2028-12-31

Countries

• Denmark

Study Locations