TY - JOUR PY - 2016// TI - A multimodal assessment of balance in elderly and young adults JO - Oncotarget A1 - King, Gregory W. A1 - Abreu, Eduardo L. A1 - Cheng, An-Lin A1 - Chertoff, Keyna K. A1 - Brotto, Leticia A1 - Kelly, Patricia J. A1 - Brotto, Marco A1 - King, Gregory W. A1 - Abreu, Eduardo L. A1 - Cheng, An-Lin A1 - Chertoff, Keyna K. A1 - Brotto, Leticia A1 - Kelly, Patricia J. A1 - Brotto, Marco SP - 13297 EP - 13306 VL - 7 IS - 12 N2 - Falling is a significant health issue among elderly adults. Given the multifactorial nature of falls, effective balance and fall risk assessment must take into account factors from multiple sources. Here we investigate the relationship between fall risk and a diverse set of biochemical and biomechanical variables including: skeletal muscle-specific troponin T (sTnT), maximal strength measures derived from isometric grip and leg extension tasks, and postural sway captured from a force platform during a quiet stance task. These measures were performed in eight young and eleven elderly adults, along with estimates of fall risk derived from the Tinetti Balance Assessment. We observed age-related effects in all measurements, including a trend toward increased sTnT levels, increased postural sway, reduced upper and lower extremity strength, and reduced balance scores. We observed a negative correlation between balance scores and sTnT levels, suggesting its use as a biomarker for fall risk. We observed a significant positive correlation between balance scores and strength measures, adding support to the notion that muscle strength plays a significant role in postural control. We observed a significant negative correlation between balance scores and postural sway, suggesting that fall risk is associated with more loosely controlled center of mass regulation. Copyright @ 2016 Impact Journals, LLC. All rights reserved.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1949-2553 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.7758 ID - ref1 ER -