A study on balance assessment according to the levels of difficulty in postural control (original) (raw)

Age-dependent changes in dynamic standing-balance ability evaluated quantitatively using a stabilometer

Journal of physical therapy science, 2018

The efficacy of a stabilometer-based index of postural stability (IPS) as an indicator of dynamic balance ability was investigated. [Subjects and Methods] Using a stabilometer, we calculated the IPS in 583 healthy subjects (178 males, 405 females) under two conditions (open eyes/hard surface, OE/HS; closed eyes/soft surface, CE/SS). [Results] Results revealed a negative relation between IPS and age. IPS (OE/HS) began to decrease at middle-age (40-60 years old), and then decreased more rapidly during elderly ages (>60 years old). On the other hand, IPS (CE/SS) decreased linearly with increasing age. There was no gender difference between the two IPSs. [Conclusion] These results suggest that IPS can evaluate balance ability quantitatively and without a ceiling effect. It was concluded that IPS (OE/HS) indicates comprehensive balance ability, while IPS (CE/SS) reveals balance ability without compensation by visual acuity and plantar superficial sense.

Comparison of Postural Sway in Young and Geriatric Individuals in Standing Posture on Balance Master

2015

Background: This study is intended to find out the effect of aging on postural sway in older individuals. While performing ADL activities, requires performing more than one task simultaneously. In this study we are comparing between two population adults and geriatric. As the age increases, because of the degenerative changes balance decreases. Methodology: In this study, standing posture is used for balance examination with the use of balance master. Healthy young and older individuals are taken for examination and on balance master, postural sway was measured. Sensamove balance master has (0.510 – 0.815) intraclass correlation coefficient reliability and (0.535 – 0.705) pearson correlation coefficient validity as compared to gold standard force plate. Result: This study showed balance performances, in adults 97.25% and in geriatric 88% in standing task, 91.75% in adults, front deviation was 0.13 o and in geriatric, 0.67 o; in adults, back deviation was0.27 o and in geriatric, it w...

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...

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.

Validity and reliability of measures obtained from the Balance Performance Monitor during quiet standing

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and testretest reliability of the Balance Performance Monitor (BPM), a portable balance testing and training instrument. A correlational design was used to determine the concurrent validity of the postural sway coefficients produced by the BPM and the computerised Motion Analysis System. Repeated same-day trials on the BPM were used to establish its reliability. Thirty-one healthy men and women ranging from 22 to 64 years of age volunteered for this study. Balance was tested with subjects' eyes both open (EO) and closed (EC). Sway coefficients were recorded by both the BPM and the Motion Analysis System. No significant relationship was found between the two sway coefficients during the EO tests (r s = 0.07); however, a moderate positive relationship was found during the EC tests (r s = 0.41, p = 0.02). The ICCs were 0.62 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.80) for the EO tests and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.90) for the EC tests.

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...

doi:10.4061/2011/160490 Research Article Rapid Assessment of Age-Related Differences in Standing Balance

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.