ABSTRACT
Motion sickness is characterized by intolerance to movement, resulting from a sensory conflict between the visual, proprioceptive and vestibular systems. In the child population, motion sickness is frequent, but the difficult diagnosis ends up underestimating the prevalence in this specific group. Pediatric vestibular changes are of great importance in child development. The objective was to analyze the susceptibility to motion sickness in children and to verify possible associated factors, as well as to identify differences in the responses when compared to sex, age group and parents’ self-perception. This is a cross-sectional study. The consecutive convenience sample consisted of children of both sexes, aged between eight and eleven years old. The motion sickness questionnaire short form (MSSQ) was applied individually with each child. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS Version v.21 (Chicago: SPSS). A significance level of 0,005 was adopted. Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Student’s T, Anova and Friedman’s were the statistical tests used. In total, 223 children were analyzed. 89.7% of the sample was susceptible to motion sickness. There was a significant difference in the comparison of susceptibility to motion sickness between genders, with girls being more susceptible, compared to boys (p=0.001). When comparing age groups, there was no statistical significance. Eleven-year-old children were more susceptible to motion sickness. There was a difference in the responses reported by children and parents about the children’s susceptibility to motion sickness.
Keywords
Motion Sickness; Postural Balance; Children; Prevalence