title: Impaired Visual Motor Coordination in Obese Adults.
abstract: Objective.To investigate whether obesity alters the sensory motor integration process and movement outcome during a visual rhythmic coordination task.Methods.88 participants (44 obese and 44 matched control) sat on a chair equipped with a wrist pendulum oscillating in the sagittal plane. The task was to swing the pendulum in synchrony with a moving visual stimulus displayed on a screen.Results.Obese participants demonstrated significantly (p< 0.01) higher values for continuous relative phase (CRP) indicating poorer level of coordination, increased movement variability (p< 0.05), and a larger amplitude (p< 0.05) than their healthy weight counterparts.Conclusion.These results highlight the existence of visual sensory integration deficiencies for obese participants. The obese group have greater difficulty in synchronizing their movement with a visual stimulus. Considering that visual motor coordination is an essential component of many activities of daily living, any impairment could significantly affect quality of life.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6694-239X
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaul
authors.affiliation: Weight Management Service, St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, Ireland.
authors.forename: Arimin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9066-7957
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mat
authors.affiliation: Weight Management Service, St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, Ireland; Department of Endocrinology, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Donal
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Johann
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1016-1409
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Issartel
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*