DOI: 10.69601/meandrosmdj.1845945 ISSN: 2149-9063

Investigation of the Relationship Between Postural Sway and Physical Activity in Adults

Banu Müjdeci, Zeynep Kırılmaz
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Objective: The body exhibits postural sway during quiet standing The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of physical activity and postural sway in adults.Method: A total of 67 adults were included in this study. Physical activity were determined using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form. Postural sway was evaluated using a swaymeter. Measurements were obtained under four standing conditions. For each condition, a 30-second recording period was used to quantify the sway.Results: In the firm–eyes open condition, anteroposterior displacement was obtained as 1.8 cm and mediolateral displacement as 1.7 cm. These values increased to 2.3 cm and 1.9 cm when the eyes were closed. On the foampad, anteroposterior and mediolateral displacements were 2.6 cm and 2.3 cm with eyes open, reaching their highest levels under the eyes-closed condition at 3.9 cm and 3.1 cm. When examining the association between sway area across the four conditions and physical activity level, significant correlations were identified under the firm surface with eyes closed, as well as the eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions on the foam pad (rs = -0,373, rs = –0.451; rs = –0.421) in minimally active group.Conclusion: This study found no strong association between physical activity level and postural sway, which may relate to the static nature of the sway assessment and the limited timeframe of the self-report activity measure. In addition, the sway values obtained provide useful normative data that may support future clinical and research applications of the swaymeter.

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