Age-dependent changes in dynamic standing-balance ability evaluated quantitatively using a stabilometer (original) (raw)
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2016
Copyright © 2011 Tobias Kalisch et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. As life expectancy continues to rise, in the future there will be an increasing number of older people prone to falling. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for comprehensive testing of older individuals to collect data and to identify possible risk factors for falling. Here we use a low-cost force platform to rapidly assess deficits in balance under various conditions. We tested 21 healthy older adults and 24 young adults during static stance, unidirectional and rotational displacement of their centre of pressure (COP). We found an age-related increase in postural sway during quiet standing and a reduction of maximal COP displacement in unidirectional and rotational displacement tests. Our data show that even low-cost computerized ...
Correlations of clinical and laboratory measures of balance in older men and women
Arthritis Care & Research, 2012
Objective. It is known that impaired balance is associated with falls in older adults; however, there is no accepted gold standard on how balance should be measured. Few studies have examined measures of postural sway and clinical balance concurrently in large samples of community-dwelling older adults. We examined the associations among 4 types of measures of laboratory-and clinic-based balance in a large population-based cohort of older adults.
Assessment of Balance in Elderly People
Introduction: Essentially, aging is a physiological state of an organism that poses a great threat of dementia, falling, incontinence, weight loss, feeling of weakness and mobility difficulties. Factors of falling that can be influenced on include balance and muscle strength, which are strongly associated. Balance can be described as capability of maintaining a certain body or body part position in contact with the base that is either still or moving. The effect of strength training with the aim of improving balance and prevention of falling is modest, although there is a significant correlation between strength and balance, which is caused by the mechanism of maintaining balance. It is a compound set consisting of various processes which requires a successful integration of multiple components, including sensor systems such as visual, vestibular and somato-sensory which cannot be stimulated by strength training. The main goal of the research is to differentiate the subsamples of el...
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 1996
Background. There are no earlier cross-national comparative studies analyzing the functioning of the posture control mechanisms and its sensory-motor correlates in elderly subjects. We investigated whether there are differences in balance between elderly subjects living in different geographical areas, and analyzed the sensory-motor associates of balance in men and women separately. Method. Using a force platform method, the functioning of the posture control system under three standardized conditions (normal standing, eyes open; normal standing, eyes closed; and tandem standing, eyes open) was studied among samples of 75-year-old residents in three Nordic localities, namely Glostrup in Denmark, Goteborg in Sweden, and Jyvaskyla in Finland. The associations of the variables describing performance in each test with other sensory and motor functions were studied using correlation analyses and multivariate regression models. Results. Differences between the populations were observed in both tests with visual control, favoring the participants from Glostrup and Jyvaskyla compared with those from Goteborg. However, only minor differences between the subjects from different localities were observed in the test performed with the eyes closed. In all localities there was a primary sex difference in favor of the women which, however, mainly disappeared when body height was taken into the analyses as a covariate. A good performance in the balance tests (body height-adjusted values) was associated with good visual acuity, low vibrotactile thresholds, and high psychomotor speed. Also, isometric muscle strength, especially hand grip and body extension, was positively associated with good performance in the balance tests. Among the women, a poorer balance was observed in women with a smaller body mass. The results of the multivariate analyses showed that among the men, the most important predictors of good performance in the balance tests were low vibrotactile threshold on the foot, high isometric hand grip strength, and low body stature. Among the women, the most important predictors were low body stature, high body mass, high isometric body extension strength, and high psychomotor speed. However, only a small proportion of the variance in balance (about 13% in the men and 11 % in the women) could be explained by the help of these factors. Conclusions. As the same procedure was applied to the analysis of postural balance, some differences between the populations living in different localities could be detected in some of the tests. The better performance of the women in the balance tests may partly be explained by anthropometric factors, especially differences in body height. There may also be differences in the sensory-motor associates of balance in elderly men and women. On the basis of the associations observed, it is difficult to explain the differences in balance between the sexes or subjects living in different localities. Within the sexes, only a small proportion (10-13%) of the variation in balance during normal standing with eyes open could be explained by the factors included in the study.
Evaluation of Postural Stability in Young and Elderly Women
Biomedical Human Kinetics, 2018
Study aim: Assessment of postural stability performed on an unstable stabilometry platform. Comparison of the results obtained by two groups consisting of elderly (OW) (60+ years old) and younger women (YW).Material and methods: Seventy-three female volunteers were divided into two groups: 40 young women (20.2 ± 1.75), and 32 elderly women (68.3 ± 7.43). Participants performed five stability tests on Biodex Balance System SD: three 20-second tries, the Postural Stability Test (PST) and the Fall Risk Test (FRT). Three stability indexes - overall (OSI), anterior-posterior (APSI), and medial-lateral (MLSI) - both with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC) were analyzed. The impact of vision on balance was calculated as EC-EO. Also effect size was calculated and evaluated.Results: All of the parameters differed significantly between groups in favour of YW. The largest difference in significance as well as effect size was noted for FRT, p < 0.001 and 1.86 respectively. Tries measure the imp...
Static postural balance in healthy individuals: Comparisons between three age groups
Motriz: Revista de Educação Física, 2014
The aim of the study was to compare static postural balance of healthy individuals of three age groups in different conditions of support and vision. Seventy one individuals, divided into 3 groups, were analyzed: young group (YG: 22.2 ± 2.1 years), middle aged group (MAG: 50.7 ± 5.7 years) and older individuals group (EG: 66.8 ± 5.4 years). Their balance was tested on a force platform, under 3 support and 3 visual conditions. Measures included: total (TD), anterior-posterior (APD) and mediolateral displacement (MLD) of the center of pressure (CoP). ANOVA revealed significant differences for interactions between group X support conditions and group X visual conditions for the 3 variables (p<0.01), with greater displacements for the MAG and EG groups during single-leg stance with partial and occluded vision (p<0.05). Static postural balance decreased over time in healthy individuals, and conditions of support and visual negatively affected balance with the increment of age.
Rapid assessment of age-related differences in standing balance
Journal of aging research, 2011
As life expectancy continues to rise, in the future there will be an increasing number of older people prone to falling. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for comprehensive testing of older individuals to collect data and to identify possible risk factors for falling. Here we use a low-cost force platform to rapidly assess deficits in balance under various conditions. We tested 21 healthy older adults and 24 young adults during static stance, unidirectional and rotational displacement of their centre of pressure (COP). We found an age-related increase in postural sway during quiet standing and a reduction of maximal COP displacement in unidirectional and rotational displacement tests. Our data show that even low-cost computerized assessment tools allow for the comprehensive testing of balance performance in older subjects.
Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, 2010
Objectives. To investigate the reliability and correlations with age of the balance components of the EPESE, NHANES, and the Good Balance Platform System (GBPS) in a normal population of adults.Design. Cross-sectional.Setting. Urban Medical Center in the Pacific.Participants. A random sample of 203 healthy offspring of Honolulu Heart Program participants, ages 38–71.Measurements. Subjects were examined twice at visits one week apart using the balance components of the EPESE, NHANES, and the good balance system tests.Results. The EPESE and NHANES batteries of tests were not sufficiently challenging to allow successful discrimination among subjects in good health, even older subjects. The GBPS allowed objective quantitative measurements, but the test-retest correlations generally were not high. The GBPS variables correlated with age only when subjects stood on a foam pad; they also were correlated with anthropometric variables.Conclusion. Both EPESE and NHANES balance tests were too e...
A study on balance assessment according to the levels of difficulty in postural control
Journal of physical therapy science, 2016
This study aimed to determine appropriate measures for assessing balance ability according to difficulty level during standing tasks. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 56 old (>65 years) and 30 young (20-30 years) adults. By using the Berg balance scale, the subjects were divided into three groups: 29 healthy older (Berg score≥52), 27 impaired older (Berg score≥40), and 30 healthy young (Berg score≥55). One inertial measurement unit sensor was attached at the waist, and the subjects performed standing tasks (1 min/task) with six difficulty levels: eyes open and eyes closed on firm ground, one foam, and two foams. Thirty-nine (24 time-domain, 15 frequency-domain) measures were calculated by using acceleration data. The slope of each derived measure was calculated through the least-squares method. [Results] Five (95% ellipse sway area, root mean squares [anteriorposterior and resultant directions], and mean distance [anterior-posterior and resultant directions] in time domain) of the 39 measures showed significant differences among the groups under specific standing conditions. The slopes of derived measures showed significant differences among the groups and significant correlations with the Berg scores. [Conclusion] The slope according to the difficulty level can be used to assess and discriminate standing balance ability.
Balance Performance Is Task Specific in Older Adults
BioMed Research International
Balance ability among the elderly is a key component in the activities of daily living and is divided into two types: static and dynamic. For clinicians who wish to assess the risk of falling among their elderly patients, it is unclear if more than one type of balance test can be used to measure their balance impairment. In this study, we examined the association between static balance measures and two dynamic balance field tests. One hundred and twelve community-dwelling older adults (mean age 74.6) participated in the study. They underwent the Tetrax static postural assessment and then performed the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and the Functional Reach (FR) Test as dynamic balance tests. In general, low-moderate correlations were found between the two types of balance tests. For women, age and static balance parameters explained 28.1–40.4% of the variance of TUG scores and 14.6–24% of the variance of FR scores. For men, age and static balance parameters explained 9.5–31.2% of the varianc...