TY - JOUR
T1 - Loss of peripheral sensory function explains much of the increase in postural sway in healthy older adults
AU - Anson, Eric
AU - Bigelow, Robin T.
AU - Swenor, Bonnielin
AU - Deshpande, Nandini
AU - Studenski, Stephanie
AU - Jeka, John J.
AU - Agrawal, Yuri
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health [NIDCD K23 DC013056, NIDCD T32 DC000023].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Anson, Bigelow, Swenor, Deshpande, Studenski, Jeka and Agrawal.
PY - 2017/6/20
Y1 - 2017/6/20
N2 - Postural sway increases with age and peripheral sensory disease. Whether, peripheral sensory function is related to postural sway independent of age in healthy adults is unclear. Here, we investigated the relationship between tests of visual function (VISFIELD), vestibular function (CANAL or OTOLITH), proprioceptive function (PROP), and age, with center of mass sway area (COM) measured with eyes open then closed on firm and then a foam surface. A cross-sectional sample of 366 community dwelling healthy adults from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging was tested. Multiple linear regressions examined the association between COM and VISFIELD, PROP, CANAL, and OTOLITH separately and in multi-sensory models controlling for age and gender. PROP dominated sensory prediction of sway across most balance conditions (β's = 0.09-0.19, p's < 0.001), except on foam eyes closed where CANAL function loss was the only significant sensory predictor of sway (β = 2.12, p < 0.016). Age was not a consistent predictor of sway. This suggests loss of peripheral sensory function explains much of the age-associated increase in sway.
AB - Postural sway increases with age and peripheral sensory disease. Whether, peripheral sensory function is related to postural sway independent of age in healthy adults is unclear. Here, we investigated the relationship between tests of visual function (VISFIELD), vestibular function (CANAL or OTOLITH), proprioceptive function (PROP), and age, with center of mass sway area (COM) measured with eyes open then closed on firm and then a foam surface. A cross-sectional sample of 366 community dwelling healthy adults from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging was tested. Multiple linear regressions examined the association between COM and VISFIELD, PROP, CANAL, and OTOLITH separately and in multi-sensory models controlling for age and gender. PROP dominated sensory prediction of sway across most balance conditions (β's = 0.09-0.19, p's < 0.001), except on foam eyes closed where CANAL function loss was the only significant sensory predictor of sway (β = 2.12, p < 0.016). Age was not a consistent predictor of sway. This suggests loss of peripheral sensory function explains much of the age-associated increase in sway.
KW - Aging
KW - Postural sway
KW - Proprioception
KW - Vestibular
KW - Vision
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U2 - 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00202
DO - 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00202
M3 - Article
C2 - 28676758
AN - SCOPUS:85020855662
SN - 1663-4365
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
IS - JUN
M1 - 202
ER -