Simpkins Caroline, Yang Feng
Department of Kinesiology and Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA.
Department of Kinesiology and Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA.
Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2025 May;59:101950. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2025.101950. Epub 2025 Jan 18.
Falls are a global health concern facing older adults. Ballet emphasizes postural control, coordination, and leg muscle strength. Previous work indicated young professional ballet dancers adapt more effectively to repeated standing-slips than non-dancers as evidenced by better reactive improvements in dynamic gait stability and step latency. However, it remains unknown if older ballet dancers would show a quicker motor learning process than non-dancers. This study tested how older recreational ballet dancers adapt to five repeated standing-slip perturbations compared to non-dancers.
Twenty older recreational dancers and 23 age- and sex-matched non-dancers experienced five unexpected slips while standing on a treadmill. The primary outcome was the slip-faller rate. Secondary outcomes included the percent change from first to last slip in kinematic measurements: dynamic gait stability, recovery stepping (step latency, duration, length), and trunk angle.
Dancers showed a faster reduction in the slip-faller rate from the first to last standing-slip compared to the non-dancers (p = 0.004). The dancers improved dynamic gait stability at the recovery step touchdown more than the non-dancers (p = 0.002). The dancers increased their step duration (p = 0.006) more than the non-dancers across the five standing-slips, and dancers exhibited better improvement in trunk angle at recovery touchdown (p = 0.028).
Older ballet dancers adapt faster to repeated standing-slips and can improve their slip-faller rate more quickly compared to non-dancers. Dancers also improve their step duration and trunk angle as related to balance loss recovery, which may be attributed to their ballet practice.
跌倒是老年人面临的一个全球性健康问题。芭蕾舞强调姿势控制、协调性和腿部肌肉力量。先前的研究表明，年轻的专业芭蕾舞舞者比非舞者能更有效地适应反复的站立滑倒，动态步态稳定性和步幅潜伏期的反应性改善更好就是证明。然而，老年芭蕾舞舞者是否会比非舞者表现出更快的运动学习过程仍不清楚。本研究测试了老年业余芭蕾舞舞者与非舞者相比如何适应五次反复的站立滑倒干扰。
20名老年业余舞者和23名年龄及性别匹配的非舞者在跑步机上站立时经历了五次意外滑倒。主要结果是滑倒摔倒率。次要结果包括运动学测量中第一次滑倒到最后一次滑倒的百分比变化：动态步态稳定性、恢复步（步幅潜伏期、持续时间、长度）和躯干角度。
与非舞者相比，舞者从第一次到最后一次站立滑倒的滑倒摔倒率下降得更快（p = 0.004）。舞者在恢复步着地时的动态步态稳定性比非舞者改善得更多（p = 0.002）。在五次站立滑倒过程中，舞者的步幅持续时间增加得比非舞者更多（p = 0.006），并且舞者在恢复着地时的躯干角度改善得更好（p = 0.028）。
与非舞者相比，老年芭蕾舞舞者能更快地适应反复的站立滑倒，并且可以更快地提高他们的滑倒摔倒率。舞者还改善了与平衡丧失恢复相关的步幅持续时间和躯干角度，这可能归因于他们的芭蕾舞训练。
