TY - JOUR
T1 - Characteristics of balance control in older persons who fall with injury - A prospective study
AU - Kurz, Ilan
AU - Oddsson, Lars
AU - Melzer, Itshak
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Sapir Research Foundation of Mifal H’apais, Israel. The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of the management of “Omer’s Gardens” and “Mishan Avot Ha’Negev”, protected retirement homes for older persons, to the research study. Dr. Oddsson is supported by the Sister Kenny Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Study sponsors had no involvement in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
PY - 2013/8/1
Y1 - 2013/8/1
N2 - Objective: Older adults who have recently fallen demonstrate increased postural sway compared with non-fallers. However, the differences in postural control between older adults who were seriously injured (SI) as a result of a fall, compared with those who fell but were not injured (NSI) and non-fallers (NFs), has not been investigated. The objective of the present study was to investigate the underlying postural control mechanisms related to injuries resulting from a fall. Methods: Both traditional postural sway measures of foot center-of-pressure (CoP) displacements and fractal measures, the Stabilogram-Diffusion Analysis (SDA), were used to characterize the postural control. One hundred older adults aged 65-91. years were tested during narrow base upright stance in eyes closed condition; falls were monitored over a 1-year period. Results: Forty-nine older adults fell during the 1-year follow-up, 13 were seriously injured as a result of a fall (SI), 36 were not injured (NSI), and 49 were non-fallers (NFs); two passed away. The SDA showed significantly higher short-term diffusion coefficients and critical displacements in SI in the anterior-posterior direction compared with both NSI and NF. However, in the medio-lateral direction there were no statistically significant differences between groups. For the traditional measures of sway, the average anterior-posterior CoP range was also larger in SI individuals. Conclusions: This work suggests that older fallers with a deterioration of anterior-posterior postural control may be at higher risk of serious injury following fall events.
AB - Objective: Older adults who have recently fallen demonstrate increased postural sway compared with non-fallers. However, the differences in postural control between older adults who were seriously injured (SI) as a result of a fall, compared with those who fell but were not injured (NSI) and non-fallers (NFs), has not been investigated. The objective of the present study was to investigate the underlying postural control mechanisms related to injuries resulting from a fall. Methods: Both traditional postural sway measures of foot center-of-pressure (CoP) displacements and fractal measures, the Stabilogram-Diffusion Analysis (SDA), were used to characterize the postural control. One hundred older adults aged 65-91. years were tested during narrow base upright stance in eyes closed condition; falls were monitored over a 1-year period. Results: Forty-nine older adults fell during the 1-year follow-up, 13 were seriously injured as a result of a fall (SI), 36 were not injured (NSI), and 49 were non-fallers (NFs); two passed away. The SDA showed significantly higher short-term diffusion coefficients and critical displacements in SI in the anterior-posterior direction compared with both NSI and NF. However, in the medio-lateral direction there were no statistically significant differences between groups. For the traditional measures of sway, the average anterior-posterior CoP range was also larger in SI individuals. Conclusions: This work suggests that older fallers with a deterioration of anterior-posterior postural control may be at higher risk of serious injury following fall events.
KW - Aging
KW - Balance
KW - Falls
KW - Open and closed loop mechanisms
KW - Postural control
KW - Stabilogram-Diffusion Analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879554389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jelekin.2013.04.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jelekin.2013.04.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84879554389
VL - 23
SP - 814
EP - 819
JO - Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
JF - Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
SN - 1050-6411
IS - 4
ER -