Are Scores on Balance Screening Tests Associated with Mobility in Older Adults?

Shubert, Tiffany E.; Schrodt, Lori A.; Mercer, Vicki S.; Busby‐Whitehead, Jan; Giuliani, Carol

doi:10.1519/00139143-200604000-00007

Cited by 77 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The underlying mechanisms controlling balance and mobility performance requires both static and dynamic balance (26). Indeed, our results indicate that training for standing balance using a wobble board may provide an advantage over treadmill walking in improving obstacle avoidance strategies for a novel task.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical features of training that facilitate adaptive generalization of over ground locomotion

2009

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When subjects learn motor tasks under novel visuomotor conditions variations in sensory input during training facilitate adaptive generalization. We tested the hypotheses that training with multiple sensory input variations is more effective than a single or no variation and that training must include critical features of the criterion task. Normal adults were pre-and post-tested on an obstacle avoidance task while wearing visual distortion lenses after treadmill walking (Experiment 1), or balance training (Experiment 2). Subjects were randomized to training groups in which they wore either: 1) three different visual distortion lenses, 2) a single pair of visual distortion lenses, or 3) sham lenses. Posttests were done while wearing novel lenses. In Experiment 1 subjects who trained with multiple lenses adapted better than single or sham lens groups. The single lens training group with magnifying lenses adapted better than the other single lens groups. In Experiment 2, training for dynamic balance, alone, did not increase training efficacy. Thus, training for an obstacle avoidance task in a novel visual environment required a critical feature of the criterion task: locomotion. Constant practice with a single lens was successful only if the best lens was selected, but the best lens could not be known ahead of time. Therefore variable practice with multiple lenses on a task that included a critical feature of the criterion task was the best training strategy to enhance adaptive generalization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical features of training that facilitate adaptive generalization of over ground locomotion

2009

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“…A distinction between static and dynamic balance performance in community-dwelling older adults is supported by the finding that scores on static and dynamic balance tests are only moderately correlated. 36 Because static and dynamic tasks challenge different aspects of balance control, balance assessment should include performance under both types of conditions. Previous investigators have manipulated the interface between the foot and walking support surface in an attempt to improve balance and thereby to reduce the risk of falling.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of Foot Orthoses on Balance in Older Adults

Gross¹,

Mercer²,

Lin³

2012

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther

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“…Although muscle stiffening may be a useful mechanism for correction of small perturbations to balance, when excessive, such stiffening can produce inflexibility, which itself becomes difficult to control and has the potential to induce instability (Collins et al., 1995; Lauk et al., 1999). To the extent that measures of static posture are predictive of falling (Shubert et al., 2006; but see Baloh et al., 2003), dwelling in the early, open‐loop control system may put individuals at risk for falling by reducing their ability to take advantage of environmental information to enhance stability. Like older control men (Sullivan et al., 2006), alcoholic men were able to take advantage of sensory and stance aids to control sway even with open‐loop control; however, neither age nor history of alcoholism in men detectably affected posture regulation by closed‐loop control.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of Postural Control in Alcoholic Men and Women: Biomechanical Analysis of Musculoskeletal Coordination During Quiet Standing

Sullivan

Rose

Pfefferbaum³

2010

Alcoholism Clin & Exp Res

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Background Excessive sway during quiet standing is a common sequela of chronic alcoholism even with prolonged sobriety. Whether alcoholic men and women who have remained abstinent from alcohol for weeks to months differ from each other in the degree of residual postural instability and biomechanical control mechanisms has not been directly tested. Method We used a force platform to characterize center-of-pressure biomechanical features of postural sway, with and without stabilizing conditions from touch, vision, and stance, in 34 alcoholic men, 15 alcoholic women, 22 control men, and 29 control women. Groups were matched in age (49.4 years), general intelligence, socioeconomic status, and handedness. Each alcoholic group was sober for an average of 75 days. Results Analysis of postural sway when using all 3 stabilizing conditions vs. none revealed diagnosis and sex differences in ability to balance. Alcoholics had significantly longer sway paths, especially in the anterior-posterior direction, than controls when maintaining erect posture without balance aids. With stabilizing conditions the sway paths of all groups shortened significantly, especially those of alcoholic men, who demonstrated a 3.1-fold improvement in sway path difference between the easiest and most challenging conditions; the remaining 3 groups, each showed a ~2.4-fold improvement. Application of a mechanical model to partition sway paths into open-loop and closed-loop postural control systems revealed that the sway paths of the alcoholic men but not alcoholic women were characterized by greater short-term (open-loop) diffusion coefficients without aids, often associated with muscle stiffening response. With stabilizing factors, all four groups showed similar long-term (closed loop) postural control. Correlations between cognitive abilities and closed-loop sway indices were more robust in alcoholic men than alcoholic women. Conclusions Reduction in sway and closed-loop activity during quiet standing with stabilizing factors shows some differential expression in men and women with histories of alcohol dependence. Nonetheless, enduring deficits in postural instability of both alcoholic men and alcoholic women suggest persisting liability for falling.

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Are Scores on Balance Screening Tests Associated with Mobility in Older Adults?

Cited by 77 publications

References 33 publications

Critical features of training that facilitate adaptive generalization of over ground locomotion

Critical features of training that facilitate adaptive generalization of over ground locomotion

Effects of Foot Orthoses on Balance in Older Adults

Mechanisms of Postural Control in Alcoholic Men and Women: Biomechanical Analysis of Musculoskeletal Coordination During Quiet Standing

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