Effect of visual occlusion and light touch on dynamic postural balance on an unstable platform in elderly and young adult women

Abstract

Aging causes the detriment of sensory information that reflects the quality of postural control. The use of light touch has been suggested as a strategy to reduce postural sway even in the absence of vision. However, the effects of this strategy in unstable situations on the support base are unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of visual occlusion and light touch on the balance of elderly and young adult women on an unstable platform. Twenty elderly women (69.4±6.7 years) and twenty young adult women (20.6±3.2years) performed three attempts at the task which consisted of maintaining balance on an unstable platform on a bipedal base for twenty seconds, with medial-lateral perturbation, in four conditions. The Mann- Whitney U test showed that the elderly women presented worse balance compared to the young adult women in all conditions (p < 0.05). The Friedman and Wilcoxon tests demonstrated worse balance with visual occlusion in both groups (p < 0.05). On the other hand, there was an improvement in balance using light touch for both vision and no vision conditions (p < 0.05). Both groups were able to use the haptic sensory information through light touch to assist in balance maintenance.