Comparison of the effects of external focus of attention with metaphor and internal focus of attention on temporal changes in seating pressure during sitting motion in community-dwelling elderly people.
Masaru Tajiri, Hitomi Nishizawa, Teiji Kimura
PMID 35291475WHAT IT FOUND
Telling healthy older adults to imagine sitting in a bathtub without making waves led to smoother, safer sit-downs than telling them to lean forward slowly.
This external focus reduced the speed of pressure increase on the spine, potentially lowering fracture risk.
Key findings
01The primary outcome, the rate at which seating pressure increased during the sit-down, was significantly lower when participants used the metaphor-based external focus instruction compared to the internal focus instruction.
02Participants took significantly longer to complete the sitting motion under the external focus condition, while the total force exerted on the chair did not differ between the two instructions.
03The internal focus instruction resulted in a significantly greater forward tilt of the trunk, which is associated with increased compressive load on the vertebrae.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The study measured seating pressure and body alignment as proxies for spinal load, but did not directly measure the load on the spine. The position of the feet and the buttocks was not standardized, allowing individual variation which may have affected the results. The participants were healthy, community-dwelling older adults who could walk unaided, so the findings may not apply to those with significant mobility impairments or existing fractures. The effect size for the primary outcome was small to medium (0.35).
Declared interests
The study was supported by the School of Health Sciences at Shinshu University. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a slower sitting motion is always safer or that the total force on the chair was reduced. The total seating pressure was the same in both groups; the benefit came from spreading that force over a longer time, reducing the rate of pressure increase. Also, this study used healthy older adults, so the results may not directly apply to frail patients or those with existing vertebral fractures.