Humphriss Rachel, Hall Amanda, May Margaret, Macleod John
Centre for Hearing and Balance Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2011 Jan;75(1):106-13. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2010.10.019. Epub 2010 Nov 13.
The literature contains many reports of balance function in children, but these are often on atypical samples taken from hospital-based clinics and may not be generalisable to the population as a whole. The purpose of the present study is to describe balance test results from a large UK-based birth cohort study.
Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were analysed. A total of 5402 children completed the heel-to-toe walking test at age 7 years. At age 10 years, 6915 children underwent clinical tests of balance including beam-walking, standing heel-to-toe on a beam and standing on one leg. A proportion of the children returned to the clinic for retesting within 3 months allowing test-retest agreement to be measured.
Frequency distributions for each of the balance tests are given. Correlations between measures of dynamic balance at ages 7 and 10 years were weak. The static balance of 10 year old children was found to be poorer with eyes closed than with eyes open, and poorer in boys than in girls for all measures. Balance on one leg was poorer than heel-to-toe balance on a beam. A significant learning effect was found when first and second attempts of the tests were compared. Measures of static and dynamic balance appeared independent. Consistent with previous reports in the literature, test-retest reliability was found to be low.
This study provides information about the balance ability of children aged 7 and 10 years and provides clinicians with reference data for balance tests commonly used in the paediatric clinic.
文献中有许多关于儿童平衡功能的报道，但这些报道往往基于从医院诊所选取的非典型样本，可能无法推广至全体人群。本研究的目的是描述一项基于英国的大型出生队列研究的平衡测试结果。
对雅芳亲子纵向研究（ALSPAC）的数据进行分析。共有5402名儿童在7岁时完成了足跟对足尖行走测试。在10岁时，6915名儿童接受了平衡临床测试，包括在横梁上行走、足跟对足尖站立在横梁上以及单腿站立。一部分儿童在3个月内返回诊所进行重新测试，以便测量测试 - 再测试的一致性。
给出了每项平衡测试的频率分布。7岁和10岁时动态平衡测量之间的相关性较弱。发现10岁儿童闭眼时的静态平衡比睁眼时差，并且在所有测量中男孩的静态平衡比女孩差。单腿平衡比在横梁上足跟对足尖平衡差。比较测试的第一次和第二次尝试时发现了显著的学习效应。静态和动态平衡测量似乎相互独立。与文献中先前的报道一致，测试 - 再测试信度较低。
本研究提供了有关7岁和10岁儿童平衡能力的信息，并为儿科诊所常用的平衡测试为临床医生提供了参考数据。
