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Vestibular assessment in the pediatric population
Author(s) -
Dhondt Cleo,
Dhooge Ingeborg,
Maes Leen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.27255
Subject(s) - medicine , vestibular system , population , content (measure theory) , information retrieval , physical medicine and rehabilitation , audiology , environmental health , mathematical analysis , mathematics , computer science
Vestibular disorders in children are not as uncommon as generally assumed. Prevalence rates vary from 0.7% to 15%, although certain groups (e.g., those with congenital TORCH [toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex virus] infections, prematurity and/or hearing loss) are known to be at higher risk for vestibular dysfunctions. Moreover, recent studies suggest that the impact of vestibular dysfunction may be greater than previously thought and may not be limited to delayed (gross) motor development, but could also be accompanied by learning difficulties (e.g., reading, writing) or cognitive deficits (e.g., visuospatial orientation, attention). In young children (age< 6 years), both history taking and vestibular assessment are challenging, because children report vague symptoms lacking the appropriate vocabulary to describe their complaints, vestibular tests are not very child-friendly, and the available equipment is not adapted to the pediatric population. The aim of this article was to propose simple adjustments to create a child-friendly version of the standard vestibular assessment that provides objective information on the function of the different parts of the vestibular system.