Balance impairment in kidney transplant recipients without concurrent peripheral neuropathy

Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) present with compromised functional capacity, low levels of physical activity, muscle atrophy, and peripheral nerve dysfunction that may result in high postural instability. This study aimed to compare the static balance control of 19 KTRs with 19 healthy adults (HA). All participants completed the Romberg test on a stabilometric platform with eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC) and during a dual task (DT) condition. Centre of pressure (COP) measures (COP velocity (COPv) and sway area (SA)), as well as position-based outcomes such as anterior-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) ranges of COP displacements were recorded. Independent ANCOVA revealed an overall lower performance of KTRs compared to HA (p<0.05) with the EC condition exhibiting the worst relative performance for KTRs, suggesting a poorer capacity of relying on proprioceptive information when maintaining the upright posture. The addition of a cognitive task did not further worsen balance performance in KTRs. As impaired postural control is one of the main predictors of falls in elderly subjects, these data might also indicate that this constitutes an equivalent risk factor for falling in middle-aged KTRs.