Comparing Fine and Gross Motor Development in Normal Hearing Children, Rehabilitated, and Non-Rehabilitated Hearing-Impaired Children

Background and Aim: Motor development is a continuous process throughout life. Hearing impairment in childhood may have significant effects on motor development. This study compared the motor development of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children at early developmental ages. Methods: This res...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Parvin Veiskarami, Mehdi Roozbahani, Sara Saedi, Ezatolah Ghadampour
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2022-07-01
Series:Auditory and Vestibular Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://avr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/avr/article/view/1016
Description
Summary:Background and Aim: Motor development is a continuous process throughout life. Hearing impairment in childhood may have significant effects on motor development. This study compared the motor development of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children at early developmental ages. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional study. A total of 149 children aged six to eighteen months were selected and divided into three groups: normal-hearing children (NHC) (55 girls and 65 boys) selected by convenient sampling strategy, non-rehabilitated hearing impaired children group (NRHIC) (11 girls and 13 boys) selected by purposive method, and rehabilitated hearingimpaired children group (RHIC) (3 girls and 2 boys) selected by the census method. The Denver developmental screening test 2 (DDST-ll) was used to assess motor development. The obtained data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U tests, and curve drawing. Results: The fine motor development of the NHC (9.63±28.83) was significantly greater than the RHIC (-18 ±26.83) and NRHIC (–21.25±30.26) groups, but there was no significant difference between the RHIC and NRHIC groups. In gross motor development, the NRHIC (–32.71±41.26) group had a more significant delay compared to the NHC (13.38±37.73) and RHIC (0±21.21) groups, but there was no significant difference between the NHC and RHIC groups. Conclusion: Hearing rehabilitation can partially compensate for the developmental delay in gross skills, but this compensation has not occurred for fine motor skills. The development of fine motor skills requires a precise synergy of small muscles and the nervous system.
ISSN:2423-480X