Movement patterns of adolescents rising from a bed

The purposes of this study were to describe the movement patterns (MPs) adolescents use when rising from a supine position on a bed to a standing position and to determine whether these MPs vary with age across adolescence.

Sixty nondisabled adolescents participated in the study.

Twenty adolescents from each of three age groups (ie, 11, 14, and 17 years) were videotaped performing 10 trials of rising from a bed. The MPs of each of four body regions were described, and the most common forms of movement observed in each age group were determined.

The observed incidence (frequency of occurrence) of MPs in each body region varied with age, and in two of the four regions, the predominant pattern varied across age groups. Eighty-nine different forms of rising were observed, with the greatest variability among 11-year-old subjects. The most frequent forms of rising were seen in only 5% to 15% of the trials for each age group; one of these was common across age groups.

Therapists should consider how MPs vary with age and avoid unnecessarily using a specific approach when teaching this activity.