Is there a relationship between complaints of impaired balance and postural control disorder in community-dwelling elderly women? A cross-sectional study with the use of posturography

BACKGROUND Risk of falls increases as age advances. Complaints of impaired balance are very common in the elderly age group. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to investigate whether the subjective perception of impaired balance was associated with deficits in postural control (objective analysis) in elderly community-dwelling women. METHOD Static posturography was used in two groups: elderly women with (WC group) and without (NC group) complaints of impaired balance. The area, mean sway amplitude and mean speed of the center of pressure (COP) in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions were analyzed in three stances: single-leg stance, double-leg stance and tandem stance, with eyes open or closed on two different surfaces: stable (firm) and unstable (foam). A digital chronometer was activated to measure the time limit (Tlimit) in the single-leg stance. Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by Mann-Whitney tests, Friedman analyses followed by post hoc Wilcoxon tests and Bonferroni corrections, and Spearman statistical tests were used in the data analysis. Differences of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS The results of posturography variables revealed no differences between groups. The timed single-leg stance test revealed a shorter Tlimit in the left single-leg stance (p=0.01) in WC group compared to NC group. A negative correlation between posturography variables and Tlimit was detected. CONCLUSIONS Posturography did not show any differences between the groups; however, the timed single-leg stance allowed the authors to observe differences in postural control performance between elderly women with and those without complaints of impaired balance.