Retro Walking With and Without Bosu Ball for Balance and Mobility in Hearing Impaired Children

Children with hearing impairment often experience balance and motor deficits due to concomitant damage to the vestibular structures. Interventions focusing on balance training have shown promise in improving postural control and motor coordination in this population. Retro walking, or backward walking, has been identified as an effective exercise to enhance balance and motor control. Additionally, the BOSU ball, a fitness training device that provides an unstable surface, is commonly used for balance training. However, the combined effect of retro walking and BOSU ball training on balance and mobility in hearing-impaired children remains underexplored. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of retro walking on balance and mobility with and without Bosu ball in hearing impaired children.

The study design will be a randomized control trial. Data will be collected from Govt. Deaf and Defective Hearing Model High School for Girls Rajgarh and Deaf Reach School, Training Center and College, Lahore. The study will be completed in 10 months after the approval of synopsis. Children aged 8 to 12 years will be randomly assigned either into the experimental group(n=12) or control group (n=12). The experimental group will be provided retro walking exercises for 30 minutes 8 weeks and BOSU ball will also be 8 weeks duration. The Control group will provide only retro walking exercises for 8 weeks. Participants fulfilling the eligibility criteria will be asked to assign the consent form before entering into the study. Balance will be measured by pediatric balance scale, mobility will be measured by time up and go test and static balance will be measured by one leg stance test. The synopsis will be presented to Research Ethical Committee of Riphah International University, Lahore for ethical approval to conduct this study. Data will be analyzed through SPSS 27.