Grace Gaerlan Mary, Alpert Patricia T, Cross Chad, Louis Margaret, Kowalski Susan
St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Henderson, Nevada, USA.
J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2012 Jun;24(6):375-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00699.x. Epub 2012 Mar 29.
The purpose of the study is to examine what sensory system predominates to maintain balance (e.g., visual, vestibular, and somatosensory) among people in their twenties and thirties.
A subset of individuals from a larger descriptive cross-sectional study was assessed. A sample of 194 (males = 28%, females = 72%) young adults in the second and third decades of life had anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and leg length) taken and body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were calculated. Balance was assessed using the NeuroCom Balance Master machine.
There was a significant difference among the three sensory systems for postural balance among the young population, F (2, 576) = 111.741, p < .001. Post hoc Bonferroni tests were maintained at the 0.05 level which showed significance for the visual system compared to vestibular and somatosensory system: visual (M = 93.7, SD = 2.07); vestibular (M = 90.4, SD = 2.74); and somatosensory (M = 90.0, SD = 3.13). Based on the results, the visual system is the predominant sensory system used by young adults to maintained optimal postural balance. SIGNIFICANCE FOR PRACTICE: There is very little known about balance of younger adults. If balance issues are identified early in adult life it is possible to prevent exacerbation of balance decline as one age. If nurse practitioners are aware of what dominant sensory systems for balance young adults use, perhaps strategies to preserve these can avoid falls as they age.
本研究旨在探究20多岁和30多岁人群中，哪种感觉系统在维持平衡方面占主导地位（例如视觉、前庭和躯体感觉）。
对一项规模更大的描述性横断面研究中的部分个体进行了评估。选取了194名年龄在20至30岁之间的年轻人（男性占28%，女性占72%），测量了他们的人体测量学指标（身高、体重、腰围、臀围和腿长），并计算了体重指数和腰臀比。使用NeuroCom Balance Master机器评估平衡能力。
在年轻人群中，三种感觉系统在姿势平衡方面存在显著差异，F(2, 576) = 111.741，p <.001。事后进行的Bonferroni检验将显著性水平维持在0.05，结果显示视觉系统与前庭和躯体感觉系统相比具有显著性差异：视觉（M = 93.7，SD = 2.07）；前庭（M = 90.4，SD = 2.74）；躯体感觉（M = 90.0，SD = 3.13）。基于这些结果，视觉系统是年轻人用于维持最佳姿势平衡的主要感觉系统。
关于年轻成年人的平衡能力，我们所知甚少。如果在成年早期就发现平衡问题，就有可能预防随着年龄增长平衡能力下降的加剧。如果执业护士了解年轻人用于平衡的主要感觉系统，那么或许可以通过保留这些系统的策略来避免他们随着年龄增长而跌倒。
