Mechanical vestibular stimulation versus traditional balance exercises in children with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND: regaining balance control is the key to decrease risk of falls in children with Down syndrome. OBJECTIVES: To compare between the effect of mechanical vestibular stimulation and balance exercises on balance in children with Down syndrome. METHODS: Thirty children participated in the study. They were divided randomly and equally into; group A and group B, both groups received the designed program with regular balance exercises for group A and mechanical vestibular stimulation for group B, treatment was conducted for one hour 3 times per week for 3 successive months. Balance as stability indexes (regarding anteroposterior, mediolateral and over all stability indexes) was evaluated before and after treatment by Biodex balance system. RESULTS: T-test was conducted to compare the mean values of stability indexes between groups. Non-significant difference between groups was recorded before treatment (p value > 0.05), while improvement was recorded when comparing post and pretreatment results for both groups (p > 0.0001). More significant improvement was recorded for group B when comparing the post treatment results with group A (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Mechanical vestibular stimulation is better added to the rehabilitation program to improve balance in children with Down syndrome.