Article

Alcohol intoxication causes many accidental falls presented at emergency
departments, with the injury severity often related to level of blood alcohol
concentration (BAC). One way to evaluate the decline in postural control and the
fall risk is to assess standing stability when challenged. The study objective
was to comprehensively investigate alcohol-related impairments on postural
control and adaptive motor learning at specific BAC levels. Effects of alcohol
intoxication at 0.06% and 0.10% BAC were examined with posturography when
unperturbed or perturbed by calf vibration. Twenty-five participants (mean age
25.1 years) were investigated standing with either eyes open or closed. Our
results revealed several significant findings: (1) stability declined much faster
from alcohol intoxication between 0.06% and 0.10% BAC (60-140%) compared with
between 0.0% and 0.06% BAC (30%); (2) sustained exposure to repeated balance
perturbations augmented the alcohol-related destabilization; (3) there were
stronger effects of alcohol intoxication on stability in lateral direction than
in anteroposterior direction; and (4) there was a gradual degradation of postural
control particularly in lateral direction when the balance perturbations were
repeated at 0.06% and 0.10% BAC, indicating adaptation deficits when intoxicated.
To summarize, alcohol has profound deteriorating effects on human postural
control, which are dose dependent, time dependent and direction specific. The
maximal effects of alcohol intoxication on physiological performance might not be
evident initially, but may be revealed first when under sustained sensory-motor
challenges.
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