Postural Control of Children with Developmental Disorders

抄録

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of balance function in children with developmental disorders (DD). [Subjects] Participants in the experiment were 9 normal children and 9 children with DD, aged 5 to 6. [Methods] The stability of the children's centers of gravity was measured during 30 seconds of static standing, with their eyes both open and closed. [Results] When eyes were closed, children with DD showed significantly greater values of environmental area (EA) and root mean square (RMS) than normal children. In contrast, no difference was observed when eyes were open. When the eyes of children with DD were closed, they showed significantly greater EA and RMS than when their eyes were open. In contrast, no such differences were observed among normal children. Although children with DD did not show deficiency in vestibular and somatosensory systems, the periphery of their center of gravity increased when they could not use visual feedback. [Conclusion] It can be inferred that, compared to normal children, children with DD experience difficulty with postural control without their vision, and that compared to normal children of the same age, their postural control is underdeveloped since they are dependent on vision for postural control.