Vestibular function in children underperforming at school

Learning is a complex, dynamic process, structured from motor and perception skills which, when cortically processed, give birth to cognition. Balance is a fundamental neurological function that helps us maintain proper postures, an essential factor in learning and a sign or neurologic maturity. Aim: this paper aims to study vestibular function in children underperforming at school. Study design: this is a cross-sectional study. Materials and method: eighty-eight children with ages ranging between 7 and 12 years attending the public schools of Piracicaba from 2004 to 2006 were enrolled. All children were interviewed, submitted to ENT examination, hearing tests, and vestibular examination. Results: fifty-one percent of the participants had no reported difficulties at school, whereas 49.0% were underperforming at school. Under vestibular examination, 73.3% of the children performing well at school had normal findings, whereas 32.6% of the underperforming children had normal test results. Unilateral and bilateral irritative peripheral vestibular alterations were found in 67.4% of the underperformers and in 26.7% of the children not experiencing difficulties at school. Conclusion: all vestibular alterations found had an irritative peripheral origin. There was a statistically significant association between vestibular alteration and poor performance at school.