Baldan A M S, Alouche S R, Araujo I M G, Freitas S M S F
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Fisioterapia, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Graduação em Fisioterapia, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Gait Posture. 2014;40(1):1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.12.028. Epub 2014 Jan 30.
The aim of the present review was to examine the experimental, case-control studies that investigated the effect of light touch on postural sway in individuals with balance problems due to aging, brain lesion or other motor or sensory deficits. Articles published before the end of March of 2013 were searched in PubMed, Scielo and Lilacs databases using terms related to postural control and sensory information. Twelve studies that assessed the postural sway of individuals with balance problems during quiet standing with the light touch using a force plate were reviewed. Two reviewers rated all selected articles as having good quality. The effect of light touch on postural control was reported by all eligible studies regardless of the cause of the balance problem of the participants. Such effect was more evident when the applied vertical force was greater than 1N, but if individuals with poor balance took more advantage of the light touch than healthy ones it depended on the source of their balance problems and not the amount of the applied force. These findings suggested that the maintenance of the fingertip lightly touching an external surface could provide additional somatosensory information for individuals with poor balance and then it could be used as a strategy to improve the control of upright standing during intervention programs.
本综述的目的是研究实验性和病例对照研究，这些研究探讨了轻触对因衰老、脑损伤或其他运动或感觉缺陷而存在平衡问题的个体姿势摇摆的影响。使用与姿势控制和感觉信息相关的术语，在PubMed、Scielo和Lilacs数据库中检索了2013年3月底之前发表的文章。回顾了12项使用测力板评估平衡问题个体在轻触下安静站立时姿势摇摆的研究。两名评审员将所有选定文章评定为高质量。所有符合条件的研究均报告了轻触对姿势控制的影响，无论参与者平衡问题的原因如何。当施加的垂直力大于1N时，这种影响更为明显，但平衡能力差的个体是否比健康个体更能利用轻触，这取决于他们平衡问题的根源，而非施加力的大小。这些发现表明，让指尖轻轻触碰外部表面可为平衡能力差的个体提供额外的体感信息，进而可将其用作干预计划中改善直立站立控制的一种策略。
