Age-related differences in reactive balance control and fall-risk in people with chronic stroke.
Rudri Purohit, Shuaijie Wang, Shamali Dusane and 1 others
PMID 37031629WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with chronic stroke fell more during unexpected slips on their less affected side than younger adults, while slips on the affected side showed no age difference and routine balance tests were similar.
Key findings
01During slips under the non-paretic limb, 84.61% of older participants fell compared with 38.46% of younger participants.
02Older adults had lower post-slip center of mass stability only during non-paretic slips.
03Clinical measures did not differ between age groups and did not correlate with reactive balance outcomes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 26 participants. All participants could walk independently and had intact cognition, so results may not apply to people with more severe stroke impairments. The groups differed in age at the time of stroke. Lesion location and severity were not recorded. The findings apply to chronic stroke, not acute or subacute stroke. Clinical measures may have had ceiling effects, which could explain the lack of correlation with reactive balance outcomes. The slips were controlled laboratory perturbations with a safety harness, not real-world slips or falls. No clinical reactive balance measure was included.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared. Participants were drawn from an ongoing NIH-supported study (R01HD088543).
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that aging alone caused the differences or that routine clinical tests can identify this risk. The groups were matched for sensorimotor impairment, clinical tests were similar, and the study included 26 independently ambulating adults in a lab.