title: Postural balance measurements for children and adolescents.
abstract: Measurements of standing balance were determined for 92 children and adolescents, 5-18 years old, while they stood on a force plate with eyes open or eyes closed. The measurements included center-of-pressure calculations for path length per second, average radial displacement, anterior-posterior and mediolateral amplitudes, area per second, mean frequency of sway, Brownian random motion measure of short-term diffusion coefficient, and long-term scaling exponent. All balance parameters improved from youngest to oldest subjects, and the parameters improved when measured with the subjects' eyes open compared with closed. The mean values for data from three trials varied by only 5% when compared with the mean values from 10 trials. Data from this study suggest that force-plate center-of-pressure data can be used to determine differences in standing balance between children and adolescents of different ages and those with movement and balance abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Oehlert
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Gamble
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation