Type of Article : Original Research
Year: 2015 | Volume 3 | Issue 5 | Page No. 1215-1220
Date of Publication: 11-10-2015
DOI: 10.16965/ijpr.2015.179
EFFECTS OF VIEWING DISTANCE AND HEAD FLEXION ON POSTURAL CONTROL DURING ONE AND TWO-LEGGED STANCE
T. Osamu Aoki *1, Yoshitaka Otani 2, Shinichiro Morishita 3, Kazuhisa Domen 3.
*1 Faculty of Rehabilitation, Shijonawate Gakuen University, 5-11-10 Houjo, Daito, Osaka, Japan.
2 Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kobe International University, 9-1-6 Kouyocho-naka, Higashinada, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
3 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
E-Mail: aoki-o@umin.ac.jp
Background: Short viewing distances and head flexion decrease and increase postural sway, respectively. Few studies have examined the effects of these factors during one-legged stance or voluntary body leaning within the base of support, both of which often occur in daily life. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of viewing distance and head flexion in several postural control conditions.
Materials and Methods: Fifteen healthy young subjects participated in this study, and center of pressure (CoP) displacement was measured in five conditions (gazing 600 cm forward, 150 cm forward, downward, forward with eyes closed, and downward with eyes closed) during two- and one-legged stances and voluntary body leaning. Measurements included that the root mean square (RMS) of the anteroposterior (A-P) and mediolateral (M-L) directions during two- and one-legged stance, and maximum A-P and M-L distances during voluntary body leaning.
Results: Our results showed that the M-L RMS of 150 cm was less than that of 600 cm during one-legged stance (p = 0.01). Moreover, the A-P and M-L RMS values of downward gazing were lower than those of 600 cm (A-P RMS: p = 0.003 and M-L RMS: p = 0.002). The M-L distances of 150 cm and downward were larger than that of 600 cm (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the effect of viewing distance was more evident during one-legged stance and voluntary body leaning.
KEY WORDS: Balance, Vision, Stance, Head flexion, Postural sway.
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Osamu Aoki, Yoshitaka Otani, Shinichiro Morishita, Kazuhisa Domen. EFFECTS OF VIEWING DISTANCE AND HEAD FLEXION ON POSTURAL CONTROL DURING ONE AND TWO-LEGGED STANCE. Int J Physiother Res 2015;3(5):1215-1220. DOI: 10.16965/ijpr.2015.179