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

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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 = 15, age = 70.8 ± 5.5 years; BMI = 22.2 ± 1.9 kg/m2), overweight (n = 15, age = 71.7 ± 4.3 years; BMI = 27.3 ± 1.3 kg/m2), and obese (n = 15, age = 71.1 ± 4.3 years; BMI = 33.1 ± 3.4 kg/m2) 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.

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Acknowledgments

GH was supported by the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research (NLCAHR) and Healthy Aging Research Program (NL-HARP). PC, MS and NT were supported by NSERC and FQRNT. OH and VC were supported by FIR from UQTR. All participants are gratefully acknowledged. Finally, special thanks to Marcel Kazsap for the programming expertise and technical support.

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Correspondence to Olivier Hue.

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Dutil, M., Handrigan, G.A., Corbeil, P. et al. The impact of obesity on balance control in community-dwelling older women. AGE 35, 883–890 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9386-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9386-x

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