The relationship between anthropometric factors and body-balancing movements in postural balance

• Published in: Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation Vol. 84; no. 1; pp. 17 - 22
• Main Authors: Kejonen, Pirjo, Kauranen, Kari, Vanharanta, Heikki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anthropometry; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Diseases of the osteoarticular system. Orthopedic treatment; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Movement - physiology; Postural Balance - physiology; Posture - physiology; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Human; Motion; Movement; Healthy subject; Anthropometry; Experimental study; Prevention; Walking; Correlation analysis; Fall; Rehabilitation; Postural fitting; Balance; Visual control
• ISSN: 0003-9993; 1532-821X
• DOI: 10.1053/apmr.2003.50058

Kejonen P, Kauranen K, Vanharanta H. The relationship between anthropometric factors and body-balancing movements in postural balance. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2003;84:17-22.
Objective: To evaluate the relationship between anthropometric characteristics and body-balancing movements when standing on 2 legs with eyes open and eyes closed.
Design: Cross-sectional.
Setting: A university physiatry laboratory.
Participants: One hundred randomly selected subjects (50 men, 50 women; age range, 31[ndash ]80y).
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures: Anthropomorphic: body height, weight, lower-extremity distances, foot lengths, and widest widths of the forefeet and heels. Body movements: 2-legged stance with eyes open and eyes closed, measured with the MacReflex Motion Capture System and calculated as maximal and total movements in 3 dimensions. The relation between the measured anthropometric characteristics and body-balancing movements was calculated by using regression analysis.
Results: In the eyes-open condition, maximal lateral knee movement was related to body height and foot length (
R
2=.065,
P[lt ].05). Both anteroposterior (AP) head movement (
R
2=.068,
P[lt ].05) and AP navel movement (
R
2=.083,
P[lt ].05) were related to heel width. AP knee movement was related to foot length and heel width (
R
2=.089,
P[lt ].05). Body mass index was related to AP ankle movement (
R
2=.074,
P[lt ].05) and to vertical ankle movement (
R
2=.063,
P[lt ].05). In the eyes-closed condition, body mass index was related to the vertical navel movement (
R
2=.059,
P[lt ].05) and body height to AP knee movement (
R
2=.041,
P[lt ].05).
Conclusion: The levels of significance are not high but warrant attention. It seems that there was no single anthropometric factor that explained the variations in body-balancing movements during standing.
[copy ] 2003 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation