Association of Age with the Threshold for Detecting Ankle Inversion and Eversion in Upright stance

• Published in: Age and ageing Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 58 - 66
• Main Authors: GILSING, M. G., VAN DEN BOSCH, C. G., LEE, S-G., ASHTON-MILER, J. A., ALEXANDER, N. B., SCHULTZ, A. B., ERICSON, W. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01-01-1995; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aging & longevity; Aging - physiology; Ankle; Ankle Joint - physiology; Elderly; Female; Human mechanics; Humans; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Movement (Physiology); Movement (Psychology); Movement, Psychology of; Movements; Postural Balance - physiology; Posture - physiology; Pronation - physiology; Proprioception; Proprioception - physiology; Psychological aspects; Range of Motion, Articular - physiology; Reference Values; Sensory thresholds; Sensory Thresholds - physiology; Space life sciences; Threshold (Perception); Weight-Bearing - physiology
• ISSN: 0002-0729; 1468-2834
• DOI: 10.1093/ageing/24.1.58

A randomized quadruple staircase method and probit analysis were used to measure the thresholds for sensation of ankle inversion and eversion by 18 healthy young and 18 healthy old subjects while standing with a foot in a servo-driven cradle. The results of over 3600 trials show that the mean threshold for detecting inversion with a probability of 75% was 0.35° in the older subjects, a value significantly greater than the 0.06° threshold found in the younger group. The corresponding thresholds in eversion were significantly greater in both old (0.52°) and young (0.35°) subjects. Significant, but smaller, age differences were also found in unipedal stance. Few significant sex differences were found. When the velocity of a 0.1° inversion movement was increased from 2 to 200°/s the probability of detecting it rose by only 22.6%. Although significantly increased with age, the threshold for sensing rotation in the weight-bearing ankle was measured in tenths of degrees, an order of magnitude better than previously reported (non-weight-bearing) values.