Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate seated postural control in persons with spinal cord
injury (SCI) compared with age-matched controls. DESIGN: Cohort. SETTING:
University research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (N=36; mean age +/- SD, 22.5
+/- 3.2y): 7 persons with high SCI (HI group; injury level greater than T10), 11
persons with low SCI (LI group; injury level between T10 and L4), and 18 persons
with non-SCI. INTERVENTION: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Participants
sat on a force platform on a custom-built wooden box with their arms by their
side. Postural control was quantified in several ways. Participants completed a
functional reach test. The amount of postural sway was quantified by
characterizing the center of pressure (COP) trajectory by determining median
velocity and root mean square of the signal. In addition, the virtual time to
contact to the functional boundary was quantified. Last, the instability index
was determined as the ratio of the COP area to the functional boundary. RESULTS:
There were no group differences in COP-based metrics (P>.05). There was no
difference between SCI groups in functional reach (P>.05). The HI group had a
smaller virtual time to contact (VTC) than the control group (.50 +/- .20s vs .98
+/- .24s, P<.05). Both SCI groups had a greater instability index than the
control group, with the HI group having the largest amount of instability
(P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: The observations suggest that VTC analysis is appropriate
to investigate seated postural control. It is proposed that including VTC of
seated postural control as an outcome measure will provide novel information
concerning the effectiveness of various rehabilitation approaches and/or
technologies aimed at improving seated postural control in persons with SCI.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS