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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
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An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses
Published on: April 6, 2019
Trunk accelerometry reveals postural instability in untreated Parkinson's disease.
Martina Mancini1, Fay B Horak, Cris Zampieri
1Balance Disorders Laboratory, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006, USA. mancinim@ohsu.edu
Parkinsonism & Related Disorders
|June 7, 2011
Summary
Postural sway abnormalities are present even in early, untreated Parkinson's disease (PD). Accelerometer measures of trunk movement can detect this subtle postural instability, aiding early diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Biomedical Engineering
- Movement Disorders
Background:
- Advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) is linked to postural sway abnormalities.
- Abnormalities in postural sway for untreated PD have not been previously reported.
- Subtle postural instability may exist in early PD before clinical manifestation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate postural sway abnormalities in individuals with newly diagnosed, untreated Parkinson's disease.
- To determine if spontaneous sway during quiet standing differs between untreated PD patients and healthy controls.
- To evaluate the efficacy of accelerometer-based trunk sway measures in detecting early PD-related postural instability.
Main Methods:
- Compared 13 untreated PD subjects with 12 age-matched healthy controls.
- Measured postural sway using a trunk-mounted accelerometer (L5 level) and traditional force plates.
- Recorded sway during 2-minute trials under eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions.
Main Results:
- Increased lower trunk 'JERK' in the EO condition was a key differentiator for untreated PD subjects, measured by accelerometer.
- Accelerometer-based metrics like root mean square and frequency dispersion of sway in EO conditions also distinguished untreated PD.
- Accelerometer measures showed significant differences in postural sway between untreated PD patients and controls.
Conclusions:
- Accelerometer-based sway metrics can objectively identify postural instability in untreated Parkinson's disease.
- This technology offers a potential tool for early detection and monitoring of balance disorders in PD.
- Accelerometer analysis of spontaneous sway may enhance early clinical trials and treatment evaluation for PD balance deficits.
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