Age-adjusted normality patterns for posturography by Sway Star system.

Technological advances have led to the development of new measurement techniques that have improved the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders. The objective of this study was to propose population normality patterns, adjusted for age, for summary option (balance control summary, BCS) of Sway Star system. Prospective study involving 70 healthy individuals (average age 44.9 years) evenly distributed in seven age groups and who underwent a postural study with the Sway Star system. The normality patterns for the BCS are presented in Tables 2, 3 and 4. No influence of the gender variable was found. Age had an influence in the more sensorially complex stance tests, and the sensory analysis (visual and vestibular contributions). No influence of age in gait tests or in balance control indexes was found. The BCS option is the most feasible way of systematically using the Sway Star, because it provides complete information of the patient's postural capacity in sensorially complex settings. Establishing normality patterns is the initial and essential step to validate the usefulness of Sway Star in the study of patients with balance disorder. Gait test results were not influenced by age because of their greater capacity to reproduce physiological situations; these could be the tests of choice for detecting elderly patients with a tendency to fall.