title: Task-specific measures of balance efficacy, anxiety, and stability and their relationship to clinical balance performance.
abstract: The main objective of this research was to investigate the effects of postural threat on performance of three clinical balance tests. Thirty-one healthy young adults performed quiet stance, maximal reach, and one-leg stance tasks at two levels of postural threat, which was modified through the use of a hydraulic lift. Increased postural threat significantly affected postural control measures for both simple and dynamic balance tests. Physiological and state anxiety increased as a result of increased postural threat whereas ratings of perceived stability and balance efficacy were reduced as a function of increased postural threat. Efforts to diagnose balance disorders based on balance performance may be confounded by the influence of psychological factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Hauck
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Frank
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology