NCT04050774

Standing Balance Control Across the Lifespan

Balance Control Mechanisms During Perturbed Standing Across the Lifespan

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 41 (actual)
• Sponsor: Hasselt University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries in children and elderly. To understand the causes of falling in these populations, fundamental knowledge of how ageing affects balance control is of utmost importance. In general, two biomechanical mechanisms allow people to control balance; 1.moving the center of pressure within the base of support using ankle muscle activation; 2.counter-rotating segments around the center of mass. To understand how balance is controlled differently across the lifespan, 4 age groups (each N=20) will be compared to each other; i.e. prepubertal children (6-9y), postpubertal children (15-17y), young adults (18-24y), healthy non-falling older adults (65-80y). . A force plate platform combined with 3D movement registration will be used to determine the biomechanical balance control strategy across the lifespan during unperturbed and perturbed standing. The innovative but focused scope of this study could provide a breakthrough in our biomechanical understanding of balance control and, in particular, the changes in limitations of balance control in childhood and an ageing (fall-prone) population. The gained fundamental knowledge could lead to unprecedented insights in the causes of falling across the lifespan and in possible targets for intervention.

Conditions

• Children, Adult

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Balance boards	The unstable surface will be created with a balance board consisting of a wooden board mounted on a section of a cylinder, creating an unstable support in the sagittal plane or in the frontal plane. The participants will stand on three balance boards, varying the height of the surface of the board above the point of contact (15, 17 and 19 cm respectively). The radius of the cylinder will kept constant at 24 cm. The standing surface will be 48cm x 48 cm

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-11-21
• Primary completion: 2021-04-01
• Completion: 2021-04-01
• First posted: 2019-08-08
• Last updated: 2022-08-03

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Belgium