Eye-movement training (ET) has been proposed as a way to support balance, but its feasibility and long-term effects in children are unclear. We evaluated a 24-week home-based ET program, delivered via the SUKUBARA® video system, in community-dwelling school-aged children, focusing on balance and ocular motor-related visual functions.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change — this is a small pilot study with no control group; findings are too preliminary to guide clinical practice.
Understanding the link between eye-movement training and balance in children could eventually inform vestibular rehabilitation approaches for pediatric populations, but robust evidence does not yet exist.
- 01Single-group pilot study; no control/comparison arm was used.
- 0224-week home-based eye-movement training program in community-dwelling Japanese school-aged children.
- 03Outcomes assessed: balance and ocular motor function.
- 04Peripheral audiology is not directly studied, but vestibular-ocular links are relevant to balance rehabilitation.
- 05Results should be treated as hypothesis-generating only.
A 24-week home-based eye-movement training program can affect balance and ocular motor function in school-aged children.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42963738
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12887-026-07695-5.
- Journal
- BMC Pediatrics
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Community-dwelling Japanese school-aged children
- Intervention
- 24-week home-based eye-movement training program
Primary outcomes
Balance; Ocular motor function