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Is there a relationship between complaints of impaired balance and postural control disorder in community-dwelling elderly women? A cross-sectional study with the use of posturography

BACKGROUND: Risk of falls increases as age advances. Complaints of impaired balance are very common in the elderly age group. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the subjective perception of impaired balance was associated with deficits in postural control (objective a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tanaka, Erika H., Santos, Paulo F., Reis, Júlia G., Rodrigues, Natalia C., Moraes, Renato, Abreu, Daniela C. C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Fisioterapia 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4518571/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26083602
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/bjpt-rbf.2014.0086
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Risk of falls increases as age advances. Complaints of impaired balance are very common in the elderly age group. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the subjective perception of impaired balance was associated with deficits in postural control (objective analysis) in elderly community-dwelling women. METHOD: Static posturography was used in two groups: elderly women with (WC group) and without (NC group) complaints of impaired balance. The area, mean sway amplitude and mean speed of the center of pressure (COP) in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions were analyzed in three stances: single-leg stance, double-leg stance and tandem stance, with eyes open or closed on two different surfaces: stable (firm) and unstable (foam). A digital chronometer was activated to measure the time limit (Tlimit) in the single-leg stance. Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by Mann-Whitney tests, Friedman analyses followed by post hoc Wilcoxon tests and Bonferroni corrections, and Spearman statistical tests were used in the data analysis. Differences of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The results of posturography variables revealed no differences between groups. The timed single-leg stance test revealed a shorter Tlimit in the left single-leg stance (p=0.01) in WC group compared to NC group. A negative correlation between posturography variables and Tlimit was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Posturography did not show any differences between the groups; however, the timed single-leg stance allowed the authors to observe differences in postural control performance between elderly women with and those without complaints of impaired balance.