Acute effects of whole-body vibration. Stabilography and electrogastrography

Abstract

The influence of whole-body vibration on postural control and stomach motility was investigated. Fifteen subjects were exposed to two vibration signals (3 and 6 Hz random) while sitting for 1 h on a vibration simulator. A control situation, ie, sitting for 1 h without vibration, was also included. Stabilographic recordings before and 1 and 15 min after the sitting showed that exposure to these frequencies had no effect on postural control. Electrogastrographic (EGG) measurements before and during the sitting showed that, for 3 Hz, there was an initial increase in activity which decreased towards normal values. For 6 Hz there was a significant increase in activity for EGG frequencies of 0.05 and 0.13 Hz. The results imply that stomach motility can be affected by whole-body vibration in certain frequency ranges.