Balance in children with bilateral cochlear implants.

Objective: To determine whether unilateral or bilateral cochlear implantation affects the functional balance of children when compared with children with severe-to-profound bilateral hearing loss without a cochlear implant.

Designs: An observational case control study.

Methods: Three cohorts of children aged 4 to 17 years were studied: those with unilateral cochlear implants, those with bilateral cochlear implants, and nonimplanted children with severe-to-profound bilateral hearing loss. Each participant's balance was assessed with the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test, Second Edition (BOT2). Raw test scores and age- and sex-matched scale scores were obtained and used to compare each of the 3 groups with one another as well as with standardized norms.

Results: Sixty-four children were tested. Twelve had a unilateral cochlear implant, 26 had bilateral cochlear implants, and 26 were nonimplanted. The mean scale scores for the unilateral cochlear implant group, the bilateral cochlear implant group, and the children with severe-to-profound hearing loss were 10.16, 11.31, and 11.15, respectively. The mean scale scores for the 3 groups did not differ significantly from each other. When compared with the standardized norms, all 3 groups had significantly lower scores on the BOT2 than the accepted mean score.

Conclusion: Balance, as measured by the BOT2, is not significantly different in children with cochlear implants versus a hearing-impaired population. However, all 3 tested groups scored lower than the validated mean score for a healthy population of children.