Towards Policy Integration of Vestibular Management in Pediatric Hearing Health Care: Global Service Delivery Gaps with Relevance to Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries

Vestibular dysfunction (VD) is a common yet often overlooked comorbidity in children with hearing loss, particularly those with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), congenital anomalies, or cochlear implants. These challenges are global, but they are especially critical in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including South Africa, where diagnostic resources and service integration are limited....

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Clinicians in low-resource settings should advocate for inclusion of vestibular assessment in pediatric hearing healthcare pathways; this review supports policy advocacy but does not provide new clinical protocols for immediate adoption.

Vestibular disorders in children are often overlooked, and this global policy review underscores systemic inequities that leave children in low- and middle-income countries without access to diagnosis or rehabilitation for balance problems linked to hearing conditions.

1. 01Significant global gaps exist in pediatric vestibular management within hearing healthcare systems.
2. 02Low- and middle-income countries face the greatest service delivery shortfalls for pediatric vestibular care.
3. 03The review calls for policy integration of vestibular management into existing pediatric hearing health programs.
4. 04Children with hearing loss frequently have co-occurring vestibular dysfunction that goes undiagnosed.
5. 05The authors propose a framework for addressing vestibular service gaps at a policy level.

PMID

42763622

DOI

10.3766/jaaa.250099.

Journal

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

Publication type

review

Evidence level

5

Population

Children receiving hearing healthcare globally, with focus on low- and middle-income countries

Intervention

Policy and service delivery review of pediatric vestibular management within hearing healthcare