Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 17, 2025
Computerized Dynamic Posturography for Postural Control Assessment in Patients with Intermittent Claudication
Published on: December 11, 2013
Sensory Organization Test Conditions Influence Postural Strategy Rather than Footwear or Workload
Harish Chander1,2, Sachini N K Kodithuwakku Arachchige1, Alana J Turner1
1Neuromechanics Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA.
Background:
Postural strategies such as ankle, hip, or combined ankle-hip strategies are used to maintain optimal postural stability, which can be influenced by the footwear type and physiological workload.
Purpose:
This paper reports previously unreported postural strategy scores during the six conditions of the sensory organization test (SOT).
Methods:
Fourteen healthy males (age: 23.6 ± 1.2 years; height: 181 ± 5.3 cm; mass: 89.2 ± 14.6 kg) were tested for postural strategy adopted during SOT in three types of occupational footwear (steel-toed work boot, tactical work boot, low-top work shoe) every 30 min during a 4-h simulated occupational workload. Postural strategy scores were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance at 0.05 alpha level.
Results:
Significant differences among postural strategy scores were only evident between SOT conditions, and but not between footwear type or the workload.
Conclusions:
Findings indicate that occupational footwear and occupational workload did not cause a significant change in reliance on postural strategies. The significant changes in postural strategy scores were due to the availability of accurate and/or conflicting sensory feedback during SOT conditions. In SOT conditions where all three types of sensory feedback was available, the ankle strategy was predominantly adopted, while more reliance on hip strategy occurred in conditions with absent or conflicting sensory feedback.
