title: Detection of baseline and near-fall postural stability.
abstract: It is unknown whether there are any measurable warning signs just before a patient falls. This study of postural position just prior to a fall involved a subject standing on a balance beam while wearing a gyroscope-based wireless data acquisition system. Results show a variation in postural position when the subject appeared stable. This occurred well before the subject experienced a fall and could not be classified as pre-fall or fall. The results show that there are two distinguishable levels of postural stability - baseline and near-fall.
authors.affiliation: Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435, USA. sipp.4@wright.edu
authors.forename: Amy R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sipp
authors.forename: Blair A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Rowley
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture