Relationships between types of balance performance in healthy individuals: Role of age

Balance is considered to be task-specific as indicated by studies reporting only small-sized and non-significant correlations between types of balance (e.g., static, dynamic). However, it remains unclear whether these associations differ by age and the comparability of studies is limited due to methodological inconsistencies.

Are associations between types of balance performance affected by age in children, adolescents, and young adults?

Static, dynamic, and proactive balance performance was assessed in 30 children (7.6 ± 0.6 years), 43 adolescents (14.7 ± 0.5 years), and 54 young adults (22.8 ± 2.8 years) using the same standardized balance tests. Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) were calculated for associations between types of balance and statistically compared to detect differences between age groups.

Except for the association between static (i.e., medio-lateral [M/L] sway) and proactive (Y-balance test) balance performance in young adults (r = .319, p < .05), our analyses revealed small-sized and non-significant associations between measures of static, dynamic, and proactive balance performance in children (-.302 ≤ r ≤ .245, p > .05), adolescents (-.276 ≤ r ≤ .202, p > .05), and young adults (-.120 ≤ r ≤ .161, p > .05). Significant differences between age groups were observed for associations between dynamic and proactive balance, which were lesser in young adults (r = .161) compared to adolescents (r = -.276, p = .017) and children (r = -.302, p = .023) and for associations between static (i.e., M/L sway) and proactive balance, which were larger in young adults (r = .319) compared to adolescents (r = -.131, p = .029).

Practitioners (e.g., PE teachers) should be aware that associations between types of balance performance are small and hardly affected by age in youth. Therefore, they should be trained and tested individually in children, adolescents, and young adults.