Could Cultural and Background Resilience be the Main Culprit for Neglected Vestibular Dysfunction in Children?

Abstract

Vestibular dysfunction in children and adolescents has recently gained tremendous attention, with more child-friendly investigations and rehabilitation protocols emerging.Reports have shown that children with vestibular impairment tend to develop speech and language acquisition delay, fine and gross motor delay, which in the long-termresults in an overall poor quality of life. In an extreme situation, vestibular dysfunction can lead to dissociative syndromes such as depersonalisation/derealisation symptomsthat occur following a mismatch between the vestibular signals and other sensory inputs, which may, in turn, lead to suicidal thoughts and behaviour 1. Whilst measuresto incorporate vestibular assessment as a part of routine practice in paediatric patients have been carried out in most centres, pediatric vestibular medicine appears to beunfathomed in some parts of the world, notably the South-East Asian region.