The development of postural stability in children with and
without visual impairments (VI) was compared. Thirty eight subjects (4-
12 years old) without VI and 12 subjects with VI (5- 12 years) took part.
Stability was measured in 4 quiet standing tasks (normal or foam surface,
eyes open (EO) or eyes closed (EC)) and by measuring stability limits
(SL) in the anterio-posterior (a-p) and lateral (lat) planes. Results for
control subjects were compared using Pearson correlation coefficients,
analysis of variance, and analysis of covariance (height as the covariate).
For quiet standing tasks, outcome parameters were the standard deviation
(SO) of the centre of pressure (CP) in the a-p and lat planes, and mean
velocity (vel) of CP movements. For the leaning tasks, SL was measured
(normalized to the base of support) in the a-p and lat planes, and SL was
compared to CP. Individual results for subjects with VI were compared
qualitatively to control subjects.
For control subjects, stability increased with age. Subjects with
VI were less _stable than controls on all outcome parameters. Differences
between groups were more apparent as age increased, particularly for EO
conditions. This could indicate a slower pattern of development for
subjects with VI compared to controls. The groups were different both in
the EO and EC conditions, indicating that postural control with EC is not
the same as postural control with a VI, and that vision is important to the
development of postural control in children. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22592 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | LeClair, Kathleen L. |
| Contributors | Riach., Cindy L., Science |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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