title: Head Position Comparison between Students with Normal Hearing and Students with Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
abstract: Introduction Head sense position is coordinated by sensory activity of the vestibular system, located in the inner ear. Children with sensorineural hearing loss may show changes in the vestibular system as a result of injury to the inner ear, which can alter the sense of head position in this population. Aim Analyze the head alignment in students with normal hearing and students with sensorineural hearing loss and compare the data between groups. Methods This prospective cross-sectional study examined the head alignment of 96 students, 48 with normal hearing and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss, aged between 7 and 18 years. The analysis of head alignment occurred through postural assessment performed according to the criteria proposed by Kendall et al. For data analysis we used the chi-square test or Fisher exact test. Results The students with hearing loss had a higher occurrence of changes in the alignment of the head than normally hearing students (p < 0.001). Forward head posture was the type of postural change observed most, occurring in greater proportion in children with hearing loss (p < 0.001), followed by the side slope head posture (p < 0.001). Conclusion Children with sensorineural hearing loss showed more changes in the head posture compared with children with normal hearing.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife/PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Renato de Souza
authors.initials: Rde S
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.affiliation: Faculdade Integrada do Recife (FIR), Recife/PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Polyanna Waleska
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Amorim da Silva
authors.affiliation: Associação Caruaruense de Ensino Superior (ASCES), Caruaru/PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Robson Arruda
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife/PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Falcão
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Raposo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife/PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Karla Mônica
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ferraz
keywords: deafness; ear; inner; postural balance; posture; vestibular diseases