ATTENTIONAL DEMANDS OF BALANCE IN OLDER ADULTS.

Abstract

There is general agreement that the attentional demands for static balance increase with age. Research suggests that age-related decrease in balance may increase the attentional demands associated with maintaining stability. The “posture-first” hypothesis purports that when a person is engaged in both cognitive and postural tasks, attention will be allocated to postural control (Cordo and Nashner, 1982). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two tasks, one attentionally demanding the other more automatic, on static balance in older adults. METHODS: The static balance of seven (75.7 ± 7.1) older adults was evaluated under 3 conditions (No STROOP [NS], Word STROOP [WS], and Color STROOP [CS]). The STROOP task presents words printed in mismatching colors (e.g. “red” presented in blue ink). Participants are instructed to read aloud the word (WS) or the color the word is printed in (CS). The CS task is a much more difficult and attentionally demanding task. Balance measures obtained during each of the STROOP conditions were Sway Index (SI), Sway Amplitude A-P plane (Amp-AP), Sway Amplitude M-L plane (Amp-ML), Sway Speed A-P plane (Spd-AP) and Sway Speed M-L plane (Spd-ML). RESULTS: Paired-sampled t-tests were used to compare static balance measures for the STROOP conditions. There were no significant static balance differences between the NS and WS conditions suggesting that simply speaking does not impact static balance. Sway Amplitude and Speed measures were found to be significant in the M-L plane and not in the A-P plane. Significant (p < 0.05) differences for SI, Amp-ML and Spd-ML were found between the NS and SC and WS and CS conditions. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that an attentionally demanding task (CS), but not a more automatic task (WS), negatively impacts static balance. Balance becomes impaired as the task becomes increasingly difficult (NS > WS > CS). This does not support the “posture-first” hypothesis, but the balance task may not have conveyed a threat to one's balance and thus more attention was allocated to the cognitive task.