Motion sickness and postural control among Danish adolescents

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Human Physiology
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• Postural control is crucial for daily activities.
• Easily administered clinical tests for postural control are needed.
• Motion sickness (MS) is known to be correlated with postural control deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the internal validity of clinical postural control tests with static posturography.
• To investigate the association between postural control and MS in adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Healthy adolescents underwent two sessions of clinical postural control tests and static posturography.
• Clinical tests involved standing on one or two legs, on a pillow, with eyes open/closed.
• Static posturography was performed using a Tetrax Interactive Balance System.

Main Results:

• Clinical tests showed variable test-retest reliability (62%-95%), with a ceiling effect in several tests.
• Static posturography demonstrated no systematic bias.
• No significant association was found between clinical tests and static posturography results.
• A trend suggested higher sway scores in subjects reporting MS, though statistically insignificant.

Conclusions:

• The ceiling effect in several clinical tests diminishes their clinical utility.
• Static posturography appears superior to clinical tests for assessing postural control.
• While not easily applicable in daily settings, static posturography offers a more robust evaluation.
• A potential link between MS and altered postural control warrants further investigation.