title: Motor Control Test responses to balance perturbations in adults with an intellectual disability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aims of this small exploratory study were to determine (1) whether adults with intellectual disability who had a recent history of falling had slower motor responses to postural perturbations than a sample of adults without disability when measured with the Motor Control Test (MCT) and (2) to identify any learning effects associated with the test.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 7 adults with intellectual disability (58 +/- 12 years) and 13 adults without disability (49 +/- 6 years) were tested three times over the period of one week.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean response latency for participants with intellectual disability was 158 +/- 18 ms and for the control participants was 140 +/- 13 ms. No evidence was found for a learning effect with repeated testing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Some adults with an intellectual disability, who have a history of falling, may have delayed responses to postural perturbations and this impairment could be targeted in physiotherapy interventions aimed at improving balance capabilities and preventing falls.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Physiotherapy Research and School of Physiotherapy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. leigh.hale@otago.ac.nz
authors.forename: Leigh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.forename: Rebekah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barach
authors.forename: Margot
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D004856:Postural Balance; D012720:Severity of Illness Index