Reference values for static posturography of sportive and healthy adults aged 18-30 years

Measuring postural sway and comparing results in a pre-post design or with reference values can increase diagnostic accuracy and the quality of certain treatments and rehabilitation. The process of continuously regulating and sustaining a stable posture involves intricate sensorimotor control.

All 173 participants (78♂, 95♀; 21.9 ± 2.7 years, 172.6 ± 9.8 cm; 70.0 ± 13.3 kg; BMI: 22.7 ± 2.8) were students in sport and health sciences. Static posturography (open eyes, closed eyes) was performed for 30 s under standardized conditions on a force plate and the parameters analyzed were the sway path length (SPL) and the area of ellipse (AoE).

On average, with eyes open the SPL was 250 ± 116 mm, and the AoE was 125 ± 82 mm² measured with eyes open. With eyes closed, the SPL increased to 337 ± 151 mm and the AoE increased to 175 ± 125 mm². An examination of possible sex differences in static balance revealed only a significant difference for the AoE with closed eyes. In general women achieved slightly better scores than men did. Body height did not have an influence on balance.

The present dataset provides reference values for young and sportive adults between 18 and 30 years of age. An examination of possible gender differences in static balance revealed a significant difference only between men and women for AoE with closed eyes. Body height does not have an influence on balance but the literature is inconsistent and further research is needed. Owing to the popular use of posturography in practice, further reference values are needed, and more attention should be given to ΔSPL and ΔAoE (open eyes, closed eyes) as well as the interpretation of the relationship between the SPL and AoE.