Comparing Age-Ralated Changes of Balance Performance In Youth and Older Adults

Objectives: The purpose of current study was to compare the effect of aging on balance in different sensory conditions. Methods & Materials: In this cross sectional study we compared 20 healthy youth (with age 22.75±2.29) and 20 healthy older adults (with age 65.1±4.16) in single leg standing in different sensory conditions. Sensory conditions were open eye/ hard surface (OEHS), closed eye/ hard surface (CEHS), closed eye/ foam surface (CEFS) as balance tasks. One-way ANOVA, paired t-test and Independent Sample t-test were used. Results: findings showed significant difference between youth and older adults in all three sensory conditions. In addition, in each group, there was significant difference between OEHS and CEHS/ CEFS. Hence, significant difference was seen between CEHS and CEFS in each group. Conclusion: based of our findings sensory information is more critical for balance in elderly than youth. In addition, standing on One-Leg can be used as a proper test for evaluation of older adults.