Ballet practice improves neuromuscular and biomechanical responses to an unexpected standing-slip in older adults.

Falls and fall-induced injuries are common and consequential in older adults. Ballet emphasizes full-body coordination, leg strength, and postural control. However, it remains unknown whether ballet can indeed reduce falls in older adults.

Dynamic gait stability in people with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease.

Background: Falls are a serious health threat for people with Parkinson's disease. Dynamic gait stability has been associated with fall risk. Developing effective fall prevention interventions requires a sound understanding of how Parkinson's disease affects dynamic gait stability.

Hamstrings-quadriceps strength ratio could be related to falls in community-living older adults.

A prior study reported that the concentric strength imbalance between hamstrings and quadriceps is associated with falls in older adults. Given that the concentric strength may not be measured as conveniently as the isometric strength, it is meaningful to test whether the isometric hamstring-quadricep strength imbalance is related to falls among older adults. This study sought to explore whether the hamstrings-quadriceps ratio could differentiate fallers from non-fallers in community-dwelling older adults.

Shoe sole impedes leg muscle activation and impairs dynamic balance responding to a standing-slip.

The shoe sole is identified as a fall risk factor since it may impede the afferent information about the outside world collected by the plantar sensory units. However, no study has directly quantified how the shoe sole compromises body balance and increases fall risk. This study aimed to inspect how the sole affects human balance after an unexpected standing-slip.

Meta-Analysis-Based Comparison of Annual Fall Risk between Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Background: Falls are a primary cause of injuries and hospitalization in older adults. It has been reported that cognitive impairments and dementia can increase fall risk in the older population; however, it remains unknown if fall risk differs among subgroups of dementia. This meta-analysis summarized previous studies reporting the annual fall risk of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and compared the fall risk between these two groups of people with dementia.

Impact of standing perturbation intensities on fall and stability outcomes in healthy young adults.

Motorized treadmills have been extensively used in investigating reactive balance control and developing perturbation-based interventions for fall prevention. However, the relationship between perturbation intensity and its outcome has not been quantified. The primary purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze how the treadmill belt's peak velocity affects the perturbation outcome and other metrics related to the reactive balance in young adults while the total belt displacement is controlled at 0.

A Meta-Analysis of Fall Risk in Older Adults With Alzheimer's Disease.

Objectives: Falls are the leading cause of injuries in older adults. Although it is well recognized that Alzheimer's disease (AD) increases the fall risk of older adults, the reported fall risk in people with AD varies drastically. The principal purpose of this study was to summarize and synthesize previous studies reporting fall risk-related metrics in people with AD.

Adipose tissue deposition region affects fall risk in people with obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This review sought to meta-analyze previous research observing the effects of fat mass distribution on the fall risk among people with obesity. The literature search yielded five qualified studies enrolling 1218 participants (650 with android vs. 568 with gynoid).

Android obesity could be associated with a higher fall risk than gynoid obesity following a standing-slip: A simulation-based biomechanical analysis.

It is well recognized that overall obesity increases fall risk. However, it remains unknown if the obesity-induced increase in the fall risk depends upon the adipose distribution (or obesity type: android vs. gynoid).

Commingling Effects of Anterior Load and Walking Surface on Dynamic Gait Stability in Young Adults.

Treadmill walking has been used as a surrogate for overground walking to examine how load carriage affects gait. The validity of using treadmill walking to investigate load carriage's effects on stability has not been established. Thirty young adults were randomized into 3 front-loaded groups (group 1: 0%, 2: 10%, or 3: 20% of bodyweight).

Dynamic Gait Stability and Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters During Overground Walking in Professional Ballet Dancers.

It has been recognized that practicing ballet could strengthen the leg muscles, improve balance, and reduce fall risk. However, few studies have investigated how ballet practice alters a person's gait pattern, and this knowledge gap could present a barrier to designing ballet-based training programs. This study examined dynamic gait stability and spatiotemporal gait parameters among professional ballet dancers during normal level overground walking.

A systematic review of perturbation-based balance training on reducing fall risk among individuals with stroke.

Background: Perturbation-based balance training has been proven effective to reduce falls in older adults. However, it remains inconclusive if this training paradigm reduces falls in the stroke population. This review sought to summarize the existing literature to assess the effects of perturbation-based balance training on falls and some common fall risk factors in people with stroke.

Adaptation to repeated standing-slips in professional ballet dancers.

Ballet training is being increasingly used to improve physical functions in older adults. Our previous work showed that ballet dancers react to a novel standing-slip more effectively than their non-dancer counterparts through better control of the recovery step and trunk movement. The purpose of this study was to test if and to what extent ballet dancers adapt differently to repeated standing-slips relative to non-dancers.

Do dance style and intervention duration matter in improving balance among people with Parkinson's disease? A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Introduction: Impaired balance is a common symptom that increases fall risk in people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). Although previous meta-analyses concluded that dance-based interventions could improve balance in PwPD, they have limitations, such as small samples and low rigor. Another overlooked issue is whether the effects of dance-based interventions depend on dance style and training duration.

Recovery from an unexpected standing-slip in professional ballet dancers.

Although interventional studies have suggested that dance-based training may reduce fall risk for older adults based on unperturbed assessments, it remains unknown whether dance (particularly ballet) enhances recovery from an external perturbation. This preliminary study sought to test if and how ballet dancers respond differently to a novel standing-slip perturbation relative to non-dancers. Ten young professional ballet dancers and 10 age/sex-matched non-dancers were exposed to an unannounced slip while standing on the treadmill.

Effects of anterior load carriage on dynamic gait stability during level overground walking.

Anterior load carriage, identified as a fall risk factor, is commonly required in daily living activities and occupations. Dynamic gait stability quantifies the kinematic relationship between the human body's center of mass and base of support and has been widely used to assess fall risk. The current study was conducted as a portion of a larger project exploring the effects of anterior load carriage on the control of body stability during various walking conditions.

Effects of vibration training on quality of life in older adults: a preliminary systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Older adults experience reduced quality of life (QOL). Vibration training has been applied in older adults. However, it remains inconclusive whether vibration training improves QOL in this population.

Effects of anteriorly-loaded treadmill walking on dynamic gait stability in young adults.

Background: Anteriorly-loaded walking is common in many occupations and may increase fall risk. Dynamic gait stability, defined by the Feasible Stability Region (FSR) theory, quantifies the kinematic relationship between the body's center of mass (COM) and base of support (BOS). FSR-based dynamic gait stability has been used to evaluate the fall risk.

Muscle power is more important than strength in preventing falls in community-dwelling older adults.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether muscle strength or power is a better predictor of fallers (including both single and recurrent) in everyday living conditions among community-dwelling older adults. Secondly, we identified the optimal threshold of the identified fall predictors to best differentiate fallers from non-fallers. Ninety-four healthy older adults (72.

Effects of anterior load carriage on gait parameters: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Anterior load carriage is common in occupational work and daily activities. Our primary purpose was to systematically review previous work concerning the biomechanics of walking with anterior load carriage. A secondary goal was to conduct a meta-analysis on common gait parameters relevant to front load carriage.

Interventions for preventing falls in people post-stroke: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Falls are a serious challenge facing individuals post-stroke. In the past decades, various fall prevention interventions have been developed. It remains unknown if any of these interventions are effective in reducing falls in this population.