static balance function in children with a history of preterm birth

background: the incomplete maturation of brain in preterm children results in long-term neurodevelopmental impairment. this study aimed to investigate the static balance function in children with a history of preterm birth. methods: participants were 31 preterm children including 21 moderately preterm (mpt), 10 very preterm (vpt), and 20 term children aged 5.5 and 6.5 years. the cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cvemp) test and four static balance subscales of bot-2 were performed. results: the vpt children showed a significant increase in p1 and n1 wave latencies in cvemp test compared to those in the term children (p= 0.041). mean scores in the four static balance subscales of bot-2 were significantly lower in the preterm children compared to those in the term children (p= 0.025). the p1 wave latency (p= 0.003) and mean score of standing on a balance beam with open eyes (p= 0.039) were significantly lower in the vpt children compared to those in the mpt children. a significant correlation was observed between the mean score in exercise 4 (standing on one leg on a balance beam with closed eyes) of static balance subscales of bot-2 and p1 (r= -0.267, p= 0.036) and n1 (r= -0.304, p= 0.016) wave latencies of cvemp. conclusion: the longer latency of cvemp waves along with a poor performance of children with a history of preterm birth suggests a possible defect in central vestibular pathway.