The American Academy of Audiology has released a new guide on the assessment of vestibular function in children.
The guide recommends vestibular function testing in children who report dizziness and in children with imbalance or delays in gross motor milestones related to sensorineural hearing loss.
The American Academy of Audiology Clinical Consensus Statement: Assessment of Vestibular Function in the Pediatric Population was released in the May-June 2025 edition of Audiology Today.
It said the awareness of paediatric vestibular and balance disorders had been increasing in recent years.
“The overall prevalence of vestibular and balance disorders in children has been estimated somewhere between 0.45% and 5.3%, with prevalence increasing with age and a female preponderance,” the statement said.
The authors of the statement said it was a practical guide with tools and resources for clinicians who encounter children of all ages in their vestibular practice.
“Working with patients often requires a multidisciplinary approach, with the audiologist playing a vital diagnostic and management role within the health-care team,” they said.
The guide focuses on the paediatric approach to test administration and interpretation, offers protocols and tips for testing, and provides additional information on individual tests of vestibular function.
“Children have activities of daily living that are different from those of adults, so the overall goal of assessment and intervention should be to arrive at the best recommendations to help children meet their vestibular goals without hindrance to educational, social, and developmental outcomes,” the statement says.
The guide said that as paediatric vestibular testing developed, more normative data and test techniques would be included.
The statement was written by leading audiologists, paediatric audiologists and an otolaryngologist with expertise in the vestibular field.
