American Academy of Audiology Clinical Consensus Statement: Assessment of Vestibular Function in the Pediatric Population

Authors: Violette Lavender, AuD, Kristen Janky, PhD, Katheryn Bachmann, PhD, Melissa Caine, AuD, Micheal Castiglione, AuD, Guangwei Zhou, ScD

The American Academy of Audiology Clinical Consensus Statement: Assessment of Vestibular Function in the Pediatric Population is a guide for assessing vestibular function in the pediatric population. It is a practical guide with tools and resources for clinicians who encounter children of all ages in their vestibular practice and allows for expected variations in practice and available equipment. Working with pediatric patients often requires a multidisciplinary approach, with the audiologist playing a vital diagnostic and management role within the health-care team.

Vestibular function testing is recommended in children who report dizziness and in children with imbalance or delays in gross motor milestones related to sensorineural hearing loss. It focuses on the pediatric approach to test administration and interpretation, offers protocols and tips for testing, and provides additional information on individual tests of vestibular function. Basic, practical knowledge of vestibular testing is required to incorporate the guidance provided in this consensus statement. 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. As this area of pediatric vestibular testing develops, more normative data and test techniques will be included, and this guidance will continue to evolve.

The authors participated in a webinar to discuss practice applications of the information in the manuscript.

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