Speakers - WNSC 2024

Abstract

Health and disease of children affect the health and disease of society and future generations. Mental retardation is one of the most common mental disabilities that are allocated about 3% of the world's population. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of postural correction exercises on static and dynamic balance in mentally retarded children with increased scoliosis angle. Twenty-four mentally retarded female children with scoliosis deformity (scoliosis angle greater than 10 degrees) were selected and randomly divided into two groups; the experimental group (N=12) and the control group (N=12). The angle of scoliosis was measured by using a Cobb angle. In addition, the BIODEX Balance System (BBS) was used to evaluate the static and dynamic postural control.  Eight weeks (three sessions per week) of intervention were carried out in the experimental group, while during this period, the control group did not experience any intervention. To analyze the data, paired t-tests and one-way ANCOVA tests were used. The results of the research showed that corrective exercises had a significantly positive effect on scoliosis angle (P<0.05) and all directions of postural control in the static and dynamic states among mentally retarded children (P<0.05).  So it can be concluded that performing corrective exercises may be practical in the improvement of scoliosis angle and also static and dynamic postural control among mentally retarded children.

Keywords: Children, Control, Retardation, scoliosis, Balance