The impact of obesity on balance control in community-dwelling older women

Abstract

Older individuals have impaired balance control, particularly those that are frail and/or have sensory deprivations. Obese individuals show faster body sway during upright stance than normal weight individuals, suggesting that they also have difficulty controlling balance even if they do not have the same sensory issues as the older people. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine if obesity is associated to a decreased balance control in older women. Postural sway of normal weight (n 015, age070.8±5.5 years; BMI022.2±1.9 kg/m 2 ), overweight (n 015, age 071.7 ± 4.3 years; BMI 027.3 ± 1.3 kg/m 2 ), and obese (n015, age071.1±4.3 years; BMI033.1±3.4 kg/m 2 ) women was measured with a force platform for normal quiet stance lasting for 30 s in opened and closed eyes conditions. The obese group oscillated at a faster speed than the normal weight group (vision 0.99 ± 0.29 cm/s vs. 0.70 ± 0.16 cm/s, p<0.01; no vision 1.43± 0.50 cm/s vs. 0.87±0.23 cm/s, p<0.01). The obese group exhibited greater range in both axes without vision compared to the normal weight group (p<0.05). When observing sway density parameters, the obese group also spent less time in stability zones (2 mm radius area in which the center of pressure is relatively stable), and the distance between these stability zones are greater than the normal weight group in both visual conditions (p< 0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). Obesity clearly affects postural control in older women. Our results suggest that obesity has a negative impact on the capacity of older woman to adequately use proprioceptive information for posture control. As postural instability or balance control deficits are identified as a risk factor for falling, our results also suggest that obesity in older women could be considered as another potential contributing factor for falling.

Childhood obesity affects postural control and aiming performance during an upper limb movement

“…Therefore, obesity would be an additional postural constraint for stabilizing the base of support during a movement. Several studies have shown a close relationship between obesity and postural stability [3,4,[27][28][29][30]. Results of our study are in accordance with the literature and highlight that obese children have a less stable base in a standing position which affects the performance of a task requiring speed and precision.…”

Influencia do indice de massa corporal no equilibrio e na configuracao plantar em obesos adultos

“…Alguns estudos utilizando plataforma de força avaliaram o tempo de manutenção em apoio estático unipodal. Observaram que indivíduos com IMC acima de 30 Kg/m² apresentaram redução no tempo de manutenção quando comparados com não obesos 12,13 . Outros estudos demonstraram atraso de 20 a 40% do impulso motor e sensorial sobre o nervo mediano, ulnar, fibular e tibial, quando comparado com sujeitos não obesos sugerindo redução do recrutamento de unidades motoras e da força muscular 14 .…”

Influence of the body mass index on the occurrence of falls in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

“…Compared to non-obese subjects, the postural control of obese subjects may be more vulnerable [9,10], and after weight loss balance may improve [11]. Additionally, in patients with peripheral neuropathy from a variety of causes, those who are obese appear at the greatest risk for falling [12].…”