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Published on: March 14, 2017
Smartphone-Based Field Assessment of Trunk Stability and Its Relationship With Whole-Body Balance in Older Adults:
Javier De Los Ríos-Calonge1, Casto Juan-Recio1, Amaya Prat-Luri1
1Sports Research Centre, Department of Sport Sciences, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avda. de la Universidad s/n., Elche, 03202, Spain, 34 692102969.
Background:
Maintaining balance is essential for older adults to preserve independence and reduce fall risk. However, empirical evidence linking trunk stability with balance and gait is scarce, partly due to the lack of accessible field tests. Smartphone-based accelerometry field tests offer a promising approach to assess trunk stability outside the laboratory.
Objective:
The study aimed to determine (1) the association between trunk stability and whole-body balance and gait and (2) the extent to which trunk stability and whole-body balance field tests align with laboratory-based assessments in older adults.
Methods:
A total of 53 physically active older adults performed 2 trunk stability tests (ie, the lumbopelvic stability [field] and the unstable sitting posturographic [laboratory] tests), 2 whole-body balance tests (ie, the tandem stance posturographic [laboratory] and the whole-body static balance [field] tests), and 2 gait-related tests (ie, the straight-line gait and the modified Timed Up and Go [field] tests) 2 times. A Spearman correlation analysis was performed after assessing the reliability of the variables.
Results:
Significant positive low-to-high correlations were found between the lumbopelvic stability and the whole-body static balance tests (0.380≤r≤0.700; P<.01). A low positive correlation (r=0.436; P<.01) was also observed between the unstable sitting posturographic test and the tandem stance posturographic test. No correlations were found between trunk stability and any gait-related test. No moderate-to-high relationships (0.289≤r≤0.487; P<.05) were found between laboratory and field tests (both for trunk stability and whole-body balance).
Conclusions:
Better static lumbopelvic control during exercises like the back bridge and the bird-dog is linked to improved whole-body balance in active older adults, suggesting that these positions be included in future interventions to enhance trunk stability. Accessible smartphone-based field tests for lumbopelvic stability offer a promising approach for the standardized assessment of trunk stability. However, direct extrapolation from field tools to laboratory findings is unfeasible due to a lack of correlation. These findings highlight the potential of smartphone-based field tests to complement clinical and research assessments of balance in older adults.
