Gender Differences in Static and Dynamic Postural Stability Parameters in Community Dwelling Healthy Older Adults

To investigate the effects of gender on static and dynamic postural stability in community dwelling healthy older adults. Thirty men and 30 women older than 65 years participated in the study. They completed 4 balance tests, including one-legged stance test (OLST) with eyes open (EO), OLST with eyes closed (EC), Sharpened Romberg (SR) and Dynamic postural stability (Turn 180). Means of static and dynamic balance scores between male and female elderly population were compared using ttest, with equal variances. The significance level used for the study is p<0.05(one tailed). No significant differences were found in static and dynamic postural stability parameters. Many studies failed to find any significant difference in relation to gender. Any comparison of results concerning those of effects of gender should be made with caution, as methods and population vary. The results of our present study suggest that there was no difference in static and dynamic balance scores between male and female older adults. The data indicate that there was no gender based differences in static and dynamic postural stability parameters when anthropometric measures were taken into consideration. Therefore balance retraining to implemented is of equal importance for both the gender