title: Associations Between Bipedal Stance Stability and Locomotor Stability Following a Trip in Unilateral Vestibulopathy.
abstract: Posturography is used to assess balance in clinical settings, but its relationship to gait stability is unclear. We assessed if dynamic gait stability is associated with standing balance in 12 patients with unilateral vestibulopathy. Participants were unexpectedly tripped during treadmill walking and the change in the margin of stability (MoSchange) and base of support (BoSchange) relative to nonperturbed walking was calculated for the perturbed and first recovery steps. The center of pressure (COP) path during 30-s stance with eyes open and closed, and the distance between the most anterior point of the COP and the anterior BoS boundary during forward leaning (ADist), were assessed using a force plate. Pearson correlations were conducted between the static and dynamic variables. The perturbation caused a large decrease in the BoS, leading to a decrease in MoS. One of 12 correlations was significant (MoSchangeat the perturbed step and ADist; r = -.595, P = .041; nonsignificant correlations: .068 ≤ P ≤ .995). The results suggest that different control mechanisms may be involved in stance and gait stability, as a consistent relationship was not found. Therefore, posturography may be of limited use in predicting stability in dynamic situations.
authors.affiliation: 1 Maastricht University Medical Centre.|2 German Sport University Cologne.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCrum
authors.affiliation: 3 Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eysel-Gosepath
authors.affiliation: 2 German Sport University Cologne.|4 London South Bank University.
authors.forename: Gaspar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Epro
authors.affiliation: 1 Maastricht University Medical Centre.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.affiliation: 1 Maastricht University Medical Centre.
authors.forename: Hans H C M
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Savelberg
authors.affiliation: 2 German Sport University Cologne.|5 University of Cologne.
authors.forename: Gert-Peter
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Brüggemann
authors.affiliation: 2 German Sport University Cologne.|4 London South Bank University.
authors.forename: Kiros
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karamanidis
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000503:physiopathology; D005684:Gait; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture; D011312:Pressure; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: balance; dynamic gait stability; falls; locomotion; vestibular