Effects of Balance Training Exercises on Mobility in Open and Closed Environment in Children With Visual Impairments.

Effects of Balance Training Exercises on Mobility in Open and Closed Environment in Children With Visual Impairments.

Visual impairment is used to describe any kind of vision loss, whether it's someone who cannot see at all or someone who has partial vision loss. Visual impairment is classified on the basis of visual acuity like mild, moderate, severe, profound, near total visual impairment, no light perception (NLP). Balance is defined as the ability to maintain one's equilibrium as the center of gravity when the COG shifts called (dynamic balance), as in walking and running, and while the center of gravity remains stationary (static balance). Mobility is the ability of a patient to change and control their body position. Physical mobility requires sufficient muscle strength and energy, along with adequate skeletal stability, joint function, and neuromuscular synchronization. This will be a randomized controlled trial. Approval will be gained from the Ethical committee of the Riphah international university Lahore, Pakistan prior to the commencement of study. Written informed consent will be taken from all the patients and all information and data will be confidential. Subjects will be informed that there is no risk of study and they will be free to withdraw any time during process of study. 24 patients will be divided into two Groups. Group A will be the Control Group that will be given the baseline treatment of static balance training (static exercises like standing on balance board, bounce on one foot, heel rises/toe rises, standing on one foot, jumping on trampoline) and Group B will be the Experimental Group that will be provided with baseline treatment along with dynamic balance training (cross, side and tandem walking, step up and down, jumping and hopping on floor). Exercises will be given the 40 minutes with 2 sessions per week over the period of 8 weeks. Pre and Post treatment values will be evaluated. The tools used will be Time Up and Go Test, GMFM-88, Wee FIM. Data will be analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and mean and standard deviation will be calculated.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Both gender
• 08-14 Age
• Visual acuity is 20/70 with possible correction
• All participants are label with legally blind by an ophthalmologist.
• Able to follow the commands

Exclusion Criteria:

• Those who were unable to complete follow-up tests.
• No other neurological or orthopedic problems that could affect balance, and who could understand the instructions during the implementation of the exercises and tests.