scholarly journals 2280

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. 26-26
Author(s):  
Haylie Miller ◽  
Nicoleta Bugnariu ◽  
Priscila Caçola ◽  
Rita Patterson

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) share overlap in their motor symptom profile and underlying neurology (Sumner, Leonard, & Hill, 2016, JADD). DSM-5 guidelines allow these 2 disorders to be independent or co-occurring (APA, 2013), but common clinical practice does not include systematic assessment to determine the presence or absence of co-occurring DCD in children with ASD, or vice versa. Furthermore, in many cases DCD is managed in a nonspecific manner, with schools making accommodations for a child’s motor challenges without formally assigning a diagnosis of DCD. Thus, somewhat subjective, qualitative judgments are made by clinicians to classify children as DCD, ASD, or ASD+DCD in the absence of a reliable, valid, quantitative measure to distinguish between these profiles. As a first step toward developing such a measure, researchers must tease apart the nuanced differences in the motor symptoms of these 2 developmental disorders using methods that are scalable to clinical and educational settings. These methods must also be developed with consideration for logistical variables such as cost, clinical utility of data output, and ease-of-use if they are to be transferrable to physicians, school nurses, and other community health workers outside of academic laboratory settings. To that end, we conducted 2 complementary studies: 1 in the lab and 1 in the community. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: In the community-based study, we used an affordable, user-friendly, portable balance testing system to assess postural stability during quiet standing (feet shoulder-width apart) with eyes open for 30 seconds. Data were generated from a single force plate in the balance platform. Potential participants were screened for other medical and neurological conditions that might impact their postural stability, and those with significant comorbidities were excluded. We tested 15 children with a reported diagnosis of ASD, 8 children with suspected or diagnosed DCD who were enrolled in a motor intervention program, and 30 typically-developing (TD) children with no significant developmental history reported. The ASD group ranged in age from 7 to 20, the DCD group ranged from 7 to 10, and the TD group ranged from 7 to 19. In the lab-based study, we again obtained force plate data during quiet standing (feet shoulder-width apart) with eyes open for 30 seconds, in our system that also included full-body motion capture, virtual reality, and mobile eye tracking. (Data from these additional sources are not discussed in this disseminaton, as our current focus is on identifying a simple, scalable metric that can be used to distinguish ASD from DCD.) We tested 10 children with a diagnosis of ASD that was confirmed by the research team, 10 children with a diagnosis of DCD that was confirmed by the research team, and 5 TD children with no significant developmental history reported. The ASD group ranged in age from 7 to 18, the DCD group ranged from 8 to 12, and the TD group ranged from 9 to 18. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Primary outcome measures in both studies were related to Center of Pressure (CoP), including CoP sway, CoP velocity, and amount of sway relative to the base of support. Data analysis from both studies is ongoing, but preliminary trends suggest that CoP metrics may effectively differentiate between ASD, DCD, and TD. During quiet standing, individuals with DCD exhibited the greatest postural sway. Individuals with ASD followed, having greater instability than the TD group. Differences were also evident in the velocity profiles of postural sway. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Preliminary findings suggest that CoP offers a means of differentiating between typical and atypical development specifically with respect to motor symptoms. This simple, quantifiable measure may prove a sensitive and specific means of systematically assessing co-occurrence of ASD and DCD in clinical and educational settings, leading to more accurate diagnostic classification and tailored intervention. Future directions include conducting analyses that account for participant age and developmental stage with respect to motor skills, determining whether trends hold in a larger sample, and using advanced statistical methods to determine whether CoP variables have predictive validity in discriminating between classifications of ASD, DCD, ASD+DCD, and TD. Eye-movement data were also obtained during these tasks, and may further aid in understanding the factors contributing to atypical postural control. These 2 studies also yielded methodological findings, namely that the portable force platform carries the benefit of high ease-of-use, low cost, and portability, but also has important drawbacks. Specifically, it is not capable of registering accurate CoP data for participants who weigh <40 lbs, and the error variance for the load cells is greater than that of most nonportable, higher-end plates like those embedded in our laboratory’s platform. As technological advances continue to facilitate development of more portable, higher-resolution systems, these drawbacks may be significantly reduced. Future directions include further assessment of portable, affordable solutions for this type of testing to identify whether higher-resolution options are available, whether this added resolution increases classification accuracy, and how ease-of-use is perceived by clinical and community health workers.

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-178
Author(s):  
Kelly M. Meiners ◽  
Janice K. Loudon

Purpose/Background: Various methods are available for assessment of static and dynamic postural stability. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dynamic postural stability as measured by the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and static postural sway assessment as measured by the TechnoBody™ Pro-Kin in female soccer players. A secondary purpose was to determine side-to-side symmetry in this cohort. Methods: A total of 18 female soccer players completed testing on the SEBT and Technobody™ Pro-Kin balance device. Outcome measures were anterior, posterior medial, and posterior lateral reaches from the SEBT and center of pressure in the x- and y-axes as well as SD of movement in the forward/backward and medial/lateral directions from the force plate on left and right legs. Bivariate correlations were determined between the 8 measures. In addition, paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to determine similarity between limb scores. Results: All measures on both the SEBT and postural sway assessment were significantly correlated when comparing dominant with nondominant lower-extremities with the exception of SD of movement in both x- and y-axes. When correlating results of the SEBT with postural sway assessment, a significant correlation was found between the SEBT right lower-extremity posterior lateral reach (r = .567, P < .05) and summed SEBT (r = .486, P < .05) and the center of pressure in the y-axis. A significant correlation was also found on the left lower-extremity, with SD of forward/backward movement and SEBT posterior medial reach (r = −.511, P < .05). Conclusions: Dynamic postural tests and static postural tests provide different information to the overall assessment of balance in female soccer players. Relationship between variables differed based on the subject’s lower-extremity dominance.


Author(s):  
Bożena Wojciechowska-Maszkowska ◽  
Dorota Borzucka

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of additional load on postural-stability control in young women. To evaluate postural control in the 34 women in this study (mean age, 20.8 years), we measured postural sway (center of pressure, COP) in a neutral stance (with eyes open) in three trials of 30 s each. Three load conditions were used in the study: 0, 14, and 30 kg. In analysis, we used three COP parameters, variability (linear), mean sway velocity (linear), and entropy (nonlinear). Results suggested that a considerable load on a young woman’s body (approximately 48% of body weight) had significant influence on stability. Specifically, heavy loads triggered random movements, increased the dynamics of postural-stability control, and required more attention to control standing posture. The results of our study indicate that inferior postural control mainly results from insufficient experience in lifting such a load.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003151252094509
Author(s):  
Mark Walsh ◽  
Caroline Church ◽  
Audrey Hoffmeister ◽  
Dean Smith ◽  
Joshua Haworth

Measurements of postural sway are used to assess physiological changes due to therapy or sport training, or to describe group differences based on activity history or disease status. Portable force plates have been widely adopted for this purpose, leading us in this study to validate with linear and nonlinear metrics the posturographic data derived from both a portable plate (Natus) when compared to an in-ground plate (Bertec). Twenty participants stood on each plate for two trials each, with and without a foam perturbation and with and without eyes open on each surface. We calculated measures of path length, range, root mean squares, sample entropy, and correlation dimensions from center of pressure traces on each plate. An intraclass correlation coefficient across trials from each plate in each condition indicated satisfactory overall reliability (ICC consistency), supporting the use of either plate for postural sway research and interventions. Additionally, our results generally supported common validity (ICC absolute agreement), though, the specific degree of similarity differed for each of the tested metrics of postural sway, especially when considering whether or not data was filtered. For situations in which participants cannot visit a laboratory (e.g. performing athletes, community dwelling clinical patients, and virus risk concerns) an in-home portable force plate is a trusted and valuable data collection tool.


Author(s):  
Elżbieta Piątek ◽  
Michał Kuczyński ◽  
Bożena Ostrowska

Due to balance deficits that accompany adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), the potential interaction between activities of daily living and active self-correction movements (ASC) on postural control deserves particular attention. Our purpose was to assess the effects of ASC movements with or without a secondary mental task on postural control in twenty-five girls with AIS. It is a quasi-experimental within-subject design with repeated measures ANOVA. They were measured in four 20-s quiet standing trials on a force plate: no task, ASC, Stroop test, and both. Based on the center-of-pressure (COP) recordings, the COP parameters were computed. The ASC alone had no effect on any of the postural sway measures. Stroop test alone decreased COP speed and increased COP entropy. Performing the ASC movements and Stroop test together increased the COP speed and decreased COP entropy as compared to the baseline data. In conclusion, our results indicate that AIS did not interfere with postural control. The effects of the Stroop test accounted for good capacity of subjects with AIS to take advantage of distracting attentional resources from the posture. However, performing both tasks together exhibited some deficits in postural control, which may suggest the need for therapeutic consultation while engaging in more demanding activities.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zohreh Meshkati ◽  
Mehdi Namazizadeh ◽  
Mahyar Salavati ◽  
Masood Mazaheri

Context:Although reliability is a population-specific property, few studies have investigated the measurement error associated with force-platform parameters in athletic populations.Objective:To investigate the skill-related differences between athletes and nonathletes in reliability of center-of-pressure (COP) summary measures under eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions.Design:Test–retest reliability study.Setting:COP was recorded during double-leg quiet standing on a Kistler force platform before and after a fatiguing treadmill exercise, with EO and EC.Participants:31 male participants including 15 athletes practiced in karate and 16 nonathletes.Main Outcome Measures:Standard deviation (SD) of amplitude, phase-plane portrait, SD of velocity, mean total velocity, and area were calculated from 30-s COP data. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement, and coefficient of variation (CV) were used as estimates of reliability and precision.Results:Higher ICCs were found for COP measures in the athlete (compared with the nonathlete) group, postfatigued (compared with prefatigued) condition, and EC (compared with EO) tests. CVs smaller than 15% were obtained for most of the COP measures. SD of velocity in the anteroposterior direction showed the highest reliability in most conditions.Conclusions:Tests with EC and to a lesser extent tests performed in the athlete group and in the postfatigued condition showed better reliability.


2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eryk P. Przysucha ◽  
M. Jane Taylor

The purpose of this study was to compare the postural sway profiles of 20 boys with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) on two conditions of a quiet standing task: eyes open and eyes closed. Anterior-posterior (AP) sway, medio-lateral sway (LAT), area of sway, total path length, and Romberg’s quotient were analyzed. When visual information was available, there was no difference between groups in LAT sway or path length. However, boys with DCD demonstrated more AP sway (p < .01) and greater area of sway (p < .03), which resulted in pronounced excursions closer to their stability limits. Analysis of Romberg’s quotient indicated that boys with DCD did not over-rely on visual information.


2003 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janusz W. Blaszczyk ◽  
Bogdan Bacik ◽  
Grzegorz Juras

One of the most important applications of postural sway analysis is the detection of such impairments to the motor system that would allow us to predict risk of falling. Force plate posturography is a commonly used clinical method for the evaluation of postural instability. The diagnostic value of postural sway represented here by oscillations of the center-of-foot pressure (COFP) is being questioned very often. These diagnostic problems result from the lack of an adequate and reliable method of sway analysis — a method that would present a clear connection between stability and quality of postural control. To gain better insight into this problem, the following experiments were done and some effective methods of sway analysis typically applied in conventional mechanics and electrical engineering are presented here. Quality of the postural stability was assessed using, in addition to standard parameters, spatial histograms, body transfer function, contour plots as well as the COFP fractal dimension. Such complex analysis allowed us to extract significant sway parameters that are relevant to postural instability. Analysis of the data revealed that spatial histogram has clear peak which maximum was sensitive to sensory conditions. Changes in the postural sway distributions have been confirmed by the increase of the COFP fractal dimension.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 418-427
Author(s):  
Yücel Makaracı ◽  
Recep Soslu ◽  
Ömer Özer ◽  
Abdullah Uysal

In sports such as basketball and volleyball, loss of balance due to the inability to maintain body stability and lack of postural control adversely affect athletic performance. Deaf athletes appear to struggle with balance and postural stability problems. The purpose of this study was to examine postural sway values in parallel and single leg stance of Olympic deaf basketball and volleyball players and reveal differences between the branches. Twenty-three male athletes from the Turkish national deaf basketball (n= 11) and volleyball (n= 12) teams participated in the study. After anthropometric measurements, the subjects completed postural sway (PS) tests in parallel/single leg stances with open eyes and closed eyes on a force plate. PS parameters (sway path, velocity, and area) obtained from the device software were used for the statistical analysis. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare differences in PS parameters between basketball and volleyball players, and the alpha value was accepted as 0.05. Volleyball players had significantly better results in parallel stance and dominant leg PS values than basketball players (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups in nondominant leg PS values (P>0.05). We think that proprioceptive and vestibular system enhancing training practices to be performed with stability exercises will be beneficial in terms of both promoting functional stability and interlimb coordination. Trainers and strength coaches should be aware of differences in the postural control mechanism of deaf athletes.


Author(s):  
G. Posa ◽  
D. Farkasinszky ◽  
T. Margithazi ◽  
E. Nagy

AbstractPurposeThe objective of this pilot study was to compare the effects of two parallel balance trainings on postural sway and balance confidence. The study was performed in different contexts with stable vs. unstable base of support and balance confidence was measured with a scale modified for young adults with higher functional level.Materials/methodsTwenty healthy female physiotherapist students volunteered for the study and took part in a six-week balance training intervention. They were randomly assigned to two groups training on different support surfaces. Postural sway was recorded under various conditions: on different surfaces (firm, foam) and with different visual conditions (eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC)). Modified Activities-specific Balance Confidence (mABC) scale was self-evaluated.ResultsBoth types of training caused a significant improvement in the mABC scores. The sway path increased after the training in the less challenging balance situations. We found a tendency of decreasing sway path only in the more challenging balance situations, that is standing on foam mounted on force plate with EC.ConclusionsConsidering the improved balance confidence in the case of both groups, we suggest that an increase in sway path after balance training may be the behavioural sign of the higher confidence in the less challenging balance situations.


Author(s):  
Tyler Grey ◽  
Daren Redguard ◽  
Rebecca Wengle ◽  
Peter Wegscheider

Objective. Previous studies have demonstrated that various factors alter postural stability. Our aim was to examine the effect of plantar flexor fatigue on postural stability in quiet standing. Methods. Fifteen healthy male university students (age, 21.3 ± 1.7y; height, 1.83 ± 0.06m; weight, 81.6 ± 9.4kg) were instructed to stand on a force plate before and after calf fatiguing exercise. The sensory systems were controlled by blindfolding subjects and having them stand on a flat firm surface, without moving their head. Fatigue was achieved through repetitive weighted plantar-flexor exercise. Standing balance was assessed by using a force plate to calculate Center of Pressure (CoP) displacement. Results. Plantar flexor fatigue led to significant (p


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