Goble Daniel J, Hearn Mason C, Baweja Harsimran S
School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, College of Health and Human Services, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
Clin Interv Aging. 2017 Feb 10;12:351-357. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S131047. eCollection 2017.
Atypically high postural sway measured by a force plate is a known risk factor for falls in older adults. Further, it has been shown that small, but significant, reductions in postural sway are possible with various balance exercise interventions. In the present study, a new low-cost force-plate technology called the Balance Tracking System (BTrackS) was utilized to assess postural sway of older adults before and after 90 days of a well-established exercise program called Geri-Fit. Results showed an overall reduction in postural sway across all participants from pre- to post-intervention. However, the magnitude of effects was significantly influenced by the amount of postural sway demonstrated by individuals prior to Geri-Fit training. Specifically, more participants with atypically high postural sway pre-intervention experienced an overall postural sway reduction. These reductions experienced were typically greater than the minimum detectable change statistic for the BTrackS Balance Test. Taken together, these findings suggest that BTrackS is an effective means of identifying older adults with elevated postural sway, who are likely to benefit from Geri-Fit training to mitigate fall risk.
通过测力板测量的非典型高姿势摇摆是老年人跌倒的已知风险因素。此外，研究表明，通过各种平衡运动干预，可以实现姿势摇摆的小幅但显著降低。在本研究中，一种名为平衡跟踪系统（BTrackS）的新型低成本测力板技术被用于评估老年人在进行一项名为“老年健身”（Geri-Fit）的成熟运动计划90天前后的姿势摇摆情况。结果显示，所有参与者从干预前到干预后的姿势摇摆总体上有所减少。然而，效果的大小受到个体在“老年健身”训练前表现出的姿势摇摆量的显著影响。具体而言，干预前姿势摇摆非典型高的参与者中，更多人经历了总体姿势摇摆减少。这些减少的幅度通常大于BTrackS平衡测试的最小可检测变化统计量。综上所述，这些发现表明，BTrackS是识别姿势摇摆升高的老年人的有效手段，这些老年人可能会从“老年健身”训练中受益，以降低跌倒风险。
