Modelling strategies supplemental to foot placement for frontal-plane stability in walking.

Walking is unstable and requires active control. Foot placement is the primary strategy to maintain frontal-plane balance with contributions from lateral ankle torques, ankle push-off and trunk postural adjustments. Because these strategies interact, their individual contributions are difficult to study.

Balance strategies for recovery from perturbed overground walking.

Bipedal locomotion is naturally unstable and requires active control. Walking is believed to be primarily stabilized through the selection of foot placements; however, other strategies are available, including regulation of ankle inversion/eversion, ankle push-off, and angular momentum through trunk postural adjustments. The roles of these strategies in maintaining overall stability are often masked by the dominant foot placement strategy.

A Common Data Element-Based Adjudication Process for mTBI Clinical Profiles: A Targeted Multidomain Clinical Trial Preliminary Study.

Introduction: The primary purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and percent agreement of clinician-identified mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) clinical profiles and cutoff scores for selected Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research common data elements (CDEs). A secondary purpose was to investigate the predictive value of established CDE assessments in determining clinical profiles in adults with mTBI.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-one (23 males; 48 females) participants (M = 29.

Correction: Bohlke et al. The Effect of a Verbal Cognitive Task on Postural Sway Does Not Persist When the Task Is Over. 2021, , 8428.

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Head and vestibular kinematics during vertical semicircular canal impulses.

Background: The video head impulse test (vHIT) is a common assessment of semicircular canal function during high-speed impulses. Reliability of the vHIT for assessing vertical semicircular canals is uncertain. Vertical head impulses require a complex head movement, making it difficult to isolate a single semicircular canal and interpret resulting eye rotations.

The Psychometric Properties of the 9-Item Vestibular Activities Avoidance Instrument.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometric properties of the 9-Item Vestibular Activities Avoidance Instrument (VAAI-9), a patient-reported outcome measure developed to identify fear avoidance beliefs in persons with vestibular disorders.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included 100 participants 18 years and older seeking care at a balance disorders clinic for dizziness. Participants completed the VAAI-9, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), and other patient-reported outcomes at the initial visit and the 3-month follow-up.

Rating of perceived difficulty scale for measuring intensity of standing balance exercises in individuals with vestibular disorders.

Background: A method for prescribing the difficulty or intensity of standing balance exercises has been validated in a healthy population, but requires additional validation in individuals with vestibular disorders.

Objective: This study validated the use of ratings of perceived difficulty for estimation of balance exercise intensity in individuals with vestibular disorders.

Methods: Eight participants with a confirmed diagnosis of a vestibular disorder and 16 healthy participants performed two sets of 16 randomized static standing exercises across varying levels of difficulty.

Test-Retest, Interrater Reliability, and Minimal Detectable Change of the Dynamic Exertion Test (EXiT) for Concussion.

Background: The Dynamic Exertion Test (EXiT) was developed to inform return-to-play (RTP) decision-making following clinical recovery from sport-related concussion (SRC). The purpose of the current study was to document intrarater and test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) scores for physiological [heart rate (HR) and blood pressure], performance (change-of-direction task completion time and errors), and clinical outcomes (endorsed symptoms, perceived exertion) of EXiT, and interrater reliability of performance outcomes.

Hypothesis: Healthy athletes would exhibit stable physiological responses to the EXiT across visits, demonstrate consistent change-of-direction task completion time between consecutive trials at each visit, and the fastest time (of 2 trials) across visits, and endorse equivocal symptoms and effort across visits.

The Role of Age, Sex, Body Mass Index, and Sport Type on the Dynamic Exertion Test in Healthy Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The dynamic exertion test (EXiT) was developed to help inform return to play after sport-related concussion, but some factors may threaten the internal validity of EXiT and affect clinical interpretation.

Objective: To compare age, sex, BMI, and sport types across EXiT physiological [pre-EXiT and post-EXiT percentage of maximum heart rate (HR %max) and blood pressure (BP)], performance (change-of-direction task completion time and committed errors), and clinical [symptoms and rating of perceived exertion (RPE)] outcomes among healthy adolescents and adults.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

The Effect of a Verbal Cognitive Task on Postural Sway Does Not Persist When the Task Is Over.

Dual-task balance studies explore interference between balance and cognitive tasks. This study is a descriptive analysis of accelerometry balance metrics to determine if a verbal cognitive task influences postural control after the task ends. Fifty-two healthy older adults (75 ± 6 years old, 30 female) performed standing balance and cognitive dual-tasks.

Impact of strength and balance on Functional Gait Assessment performance in older adults.

Background: The Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) evaluates postural stability in gait and predicts fall risk in older adults. Individual tasks within the FGA consider aspects of mobility assumed to require strength and/or balance to complete. Identifying how quantitative measures of strength and balance relate to FGA performance would allow for more targeted interventions based on one's pattern of performance on different tasks.

Utility of a Postural Stability/Perceptual Inhibition Dual Task for Identifying Concussion in Adolescents.

Context: Research in the area of dual-task paradigms to assess sport-related concussion (SRC) status is growing, but additional assessment of this paradigm in adolescents is warranted.

Design: This case-control study compared 49 adolescent athletes aged 12-20 years with diagnosed SRC to 49 age- and sex-matched controls on visual-spatial discrimination and perceptual inhibition (PIT) reaction time tasks performed while balancing on floor/foam pad conditions.

Methods: The SRC group completed measures at a single time point between 1 and 10 days postinjury.

Fear Avoidance Beliefs Are Associated With Perceived Disability in Persons With Vestibular Disorders.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between fear-avoidance beliefs and disability in 3 months in people with vestibular disorders while accounting for demographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included people aged 18 to 100 years who reported dizziness. Participants were recruited from a balance disorders clinic and outpatient physical therapy clinics.

Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Vestibular Activities Avoidance Instrument.

Importance: Fear avoidance is a behavioral response to dizziness that can lead to chronic symptoms and maladaptation of the vestibular system, but there is no valid and reliable clinical measure of fear avoidance for persons with dizziness. Although the Vestibular Activities Avoidance Instrument (VAAI) was developed to identify fear avoidance beliefs in persons with dizziness, it was considered too long for clinical use.

Objective: To continue development of the VAAI for clinical use by reducing its length and by assessing the internal consistency and construct validity through associations with measures of disability, quality of life, and psychological well-being.

Quantitative comparison of correction techniques for removing systemic physiological signal in functional near-infrared spectroscopy studies.

Isolating task-evoked brain signals from background physiological noise (e.g., cardiac, respiratory, and blood pressure fluctuations) poses a major challenge for the analysis of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data.

Shared neural substrates of cognitive function and postural control in older adults.

Introduction: Poor cognitive function and postural control co-occur in older adults. It is unclear whether they share neural substrates.

Methods: Postural sway error during a novel visual tracking (VT) condition and gray matter volume (GMV) were compared between participants with normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or dementia (n = 179, mean age 82, 56% females, 56% white).

Psychometric properties of instrumented postural sway measures recorded in community settings in independent living older adults.

Background: In the last few decades, research related to balance in older adults has been conducted in lab-based settings. The lack of portability and high cost that is associated with the current gold standard methods to quantify body balance limits their application to community settings such as independent living facilities. The purpose of the study was to examine the relative and absolute reliability and the convergent validity of static standing balance performance using an accelerometer device.

Gray Matter Regions Associated With Functional Mobility in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background/objectives: Neuroimaging indicators of reduced brain health in the form of lower gray matter volume (GMV), lower fractional anisotropy (FA), and higher white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) have been related to global mobility measures, such as gait speed, in older adults. The purpose was to identify associations between brain regions and specific mobility functions to provide a greater understanding of the contribution of the central nervous system to independent living.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Vestibular Rehabilitation and Factors That Can Affect Outcome.

This review will discuss the developmental, environmental, medical, psychological, visual, and other sensory-related factors that affect recovery after vestibular dysfunction. A general overview of the evidence for vestibular rehabilitation for patients with peripheral and central vestibular disorders is provided. Recent findings suggest that age, physical activity, certain congenital disorders, length of symptoms, musculoskeletal, visual and neuromuscular comorbidities, cognition, sleep, and medications are all factors that influence the effectiveness and outcome of vestibular rehabilitation.

Perception of verticality is altered in people with severe chronic low back pain compared to healthy controls: A cross-sectional study.

Background: People with chronic low back pain (CLBP) have abnormal lumbar proprioception, which increases their reliance on visual input to maintain body verticality. Maintaining verticality is important for spatial orientation, balance and movement coordination. It is unknown if these patients also have altered perception of verticality.

Effect of Community-Based Group Exercise Interventions on Standing Balance and Strength in Independent Living Older Adults.

Background And Purpose: Many interventions to improve mobility in older adults often include exercises to address underlying impairments such as strength deficits. Task-oriented exercise interventions that focus more on walking and stepping tasks that may be encountered in the community have been considered for improving mobility in older adults. The main purpose was to examine the effect of task-oriented and impairment-based group exercise interventions on standing balance and lower extremity muscle strength.

Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Function in Adolescents With Sport-Related Concussion: Preliminary Results.

Background: Oculomotor impairments, dizziness, and imbalance are common after sports-related concussion (SRC) in adolescents and suggest a relationship between SRC and vestibular system dysfunction. However, it is not clear whether the source of these problems is attributable to the peripheral or central vestibular system.

Hypothesis: The video Head Impulse Test (vHIT), which assesses peripheral vestibular function, will show differences in gain between adolescents with and without SRC.

Reliability and Validity of Ratings of Perceived Difficulty During Performance of Static Standing Balance Exercises.

Background: Standardized instruments for measuring the intensity of balance exercises in clinical environments are lacking.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a method for quantifying the perceived intensity of standing balance exercises.

Design: A test-retest study design was used, with repeated evaluations within the same visit and between visits 1 week later.