Comparison of the physical fitness parameters of hearing-impaired and non-hearing-impaired students

The purpose of this study is to compare the physical fitness parameters of the students who are hearing-impared and non-hearing impared and to assess the physical characteristics they possess. For that purpose, students at the age range of 9-15 that study in the academic year 2011-2012 at the primary schools located in the centrum of Eskişehir province that is affiliated with the Ministry of National Education have been included within the study. 30 hearing-impared students (17 female-13 male) as the experimental group, 27 non-hearing-impared students (17 female-10 male) as the control group and overall 57 students have been incorporated into the study. To evaluate the physical fitness parameters of the students body mass index, body fat percentage, body density, flexibility sit and reach, standing long jump, handgrip strength, flamingo balance, active jump, squat jump and reaction time tests have been used in this study. The findings of the evaluation are; there is a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between physical fitness parameters such as reaction time, grasping strength, explosive strength, balance and bounce of the hearing-impared students and the non-hearing-impared control group students sharing the same age group. In addition, it has been found out that there is not a significant difference among the two groups in terms of flexibility value (p>0.05). At the end of the study, it has been determined that students with hearing-impared have less performance on strength, power, balance and reaction time than their healthy peers. It has also concluded that hearing impaired children that have limitations detected need structured activity programs. Key Words: Impared, Hearing-impared, Physical fitness, Physical fitness tests