Comparison of Balance and Coordination Parameters of Visually Impaired and Healthy Individuals

Visually impaired, with all corrections, individuals who have one tenth of the usual visual acuity of the seeing eye, i.e. 20/200 visual acuity or less, or whose visual angle does not exceed 20 degrees are called blind. The meaning of 20/200 is that an individual affected by visual impairment can see from 60 cm, while an individual with normal vision can see from 6 m. Narrow angle of vision means that, despite normal visual acuity, vision is limited only to the centre, 20 degrees, and objects beyond 20 degrees cannot be seen. Balance depends on the integration of information received from proprioceptive, vestibular and visual sensory systems. It has been observed that visually impaired individuals have problems in postural stability and balance due to insufficient information from the visual system. In this study, it was aimed to compare the balance, coordination and gait parameters of congenitally visually impaired individuals and healthy sedentary individuals.