Some investigators have demonstrated that an anchor system can improve postural control in elderly persons during balance tasks, but none have reported on the use of this approach in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of an anchor system on postural sway in elderly individuals with (n = 13) and without (n = 14) PD. In this cross-sectional study, we measured postural sway with a force platform based on the Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction of Balance (CTSIB). We calculated center of pressure (COP) parameters, as a function of time, based on the ellipse sway area (cm2) and evaluated self-efficacy for postural control based on the degree of difficulty in each task. With the anchor system (i.e., handheld ropes attached to weights on the floor), we observed a significant reduction in the ellipse sway area in the semi-tandem position among individuals with PD (p = .04). For participants without PD, there was no significant difference in sway with or without the anchor system in all positions. Also, for participants with PD, there was an improvement in self-efficacy for postural control associated with the anchor system in several positions while there was only a self-efficacy improvement with the anchor system in the semi-tandem position for those without PD. Acute use of a haptic anchor system reduced postural sway in the semi-tandem position in individuals with PD, and the anchor system generally improved postural control self-efficacy for body sway in individuals with PD.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
0.00 MB
0.27 MB