Balance Loss and Reading in Children With Hearing Loss
Looks at whether vestibular loss affects reading in children with sensorineural hearing loss.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
- Where
- Omaha, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Reading Outcomes in Children With Vestibular Loss
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 90 people, planned
- Started
- 6 Jun 2022
- Planned end
- 30 Jun 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional, 3 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Dynamic Visual Acuity
- Reading Outcomes
- Static Visual Acuity
- Record updated
- 23 December 2025
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for children aged 7 to 18 with severe hearing loss, with or without balance (vestibular) loss, and children with normal hearing. It studies how balance loss relates to reading.
- Age
- 7 Years to 18 Years
- Sex
- All
- Disease stage
- Children with hearing loss must have pure-tone averages > 65 dB HL. Some have normal balance function, others have balance loss in one or both ears. Children with normal hearing must have thresholds ≤20 dB HL from 0.25 to 8 kHz.
- Earlier treatment
- Children taking medicines known to slow eye movements cannot join (for example anti-depressants, vestibular suppressants, sedatives).
- Biomarker or test result
- Nonverbal problem-solving/intelligence score between 77 and 123.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Failing a vision screen at 20/30, or vision problems that cannot be corrected
- Autism, blindness or other eye disorders
- Cerebral palsy, significant neurologic problems or intellectual disability
- Nonverbal intelligence score above 123 or below 77
- Taking medicines that slow eye movements, such as anti-depressants or sedatives
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 7 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Children will be required to have nonverbal problem-solving/intelligence scores within 1.5 SD of the mean (mean = 100, SD = 15, 1.5 SD of mean = 77 - 123)
- Children with normal hearing must have thresholds ≤20 dB HL from 0.25 to 8 kHz
- Children with hearing loss must have pure-tone averages > 65 dB HL
Who cannot take part
- Each participant's current medications will be reviewed. Children taking medications known to result in oculomotor slowing will be excluded (i.e., anti-depressants, vestibular suppressants, sedatives, etc)
- Have autism, blindness, or other optic disorders, cerebral palsy, significant neurologic involvement, uncorrectable vision problems, and intellectual disability
- Fail a vision screen at 20/30
- Children with nonverbal problem-solving/intelligence scores > 123 or < 77 will be excluded
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 7 and 18 years old?
Where in United States
- Boys Town National Research HospitalOmaha, United StatesContact: Kristen L Janky, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Vestibular loss can co-occur with hearing loss causing dual sensory deficits. This project examines vestibular loss as a contributing factor to reading difficulties for children with hearing loss, where previously only the effects of hearing loss and subsequent language difficulties have been considered. These results are expected to influence the identification and habilitation of vestibular loss in children with hearing loss.
The 3 groups in the trial
- Children with Normal HearingExisting treatment, for comparison
typically developing children with normal hearing (thresholds ≤ 20 dB HL from 0.25 to 8 kHz) age-matched to the children with hearing loss
Treatment: Dynamic Visual Acuity, Reading Outcomes, and Static Visual Acuity
- Children with hearing loss and normal vestibular functionExisting treatment, for comparison
Children with hearing loss will have a pure-tone average (PTA) \> 65 dB and normal vestibular evaluation.
Treatment: Dynamic Visual Acuity, Reading Outcomes, and Static Visual Acuity
- children with hearing loss and vestibular lossTreatment being tested
Children with hearing loss will have a pure-tone average (PTA) \> 65 dB and and varying degree of vestibular loss (i.e., unilateral or bilateral).
Treatment: Dynamic Visual Acuity, Reading Outcomes, and Static Visual Acuity
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Reading Outcomes in Children With Vestibular Loss
- Plain-language title
- Balance Loss and Reading in Children With Hearing LossGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT05414903, who can take part
- Record updated
- 23 December 2025