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Abstract
Dual-task balance studies explore interference between balance and cognitive tasks. This study is a descriptive analysis of accelerometry balance metrics to determine if a verbal cognitive task influences postural control after the task ends. Fifty-two healthy older adults (75 ± 6 years old, 30 female) performed standing balance and cognitive dual-tasks. An accelerometer recorded movement from before, during, and after the task (reciting every other letter of the alphabet). Thirty-six balance metrics were calculated for each task condition. The effect of the cognitive task on postural control was determined by a generalized linear model. Twelve variables, including anterior–posterior centroid frequency, peak frequency and entropy rate, medial-later entropy rate and wavelet entropy, and bandwidth in all directions, exhibited significant differences between baseline and cognitive task periods, but not between baseline and post-task periods. These results indicate that the verbal cognitive task did alter balance, but did not bring about persistent effects after the task had ended. Traditional balance measurements, i.e., root mean square and normalized path length, notably lacked significance, highlighting the potential to use other accelerometer metrics for the early detection of balance problems. These novel insights into the temporal dynamics of dual-task balance support current dual-task paradigms to reduce fall risk in older adults.
Highlights
One third of people aged 65 and older fall each year, accounting for the majority of injury-related hospitalizations and deaths in older adults [1] and costing $500 billion annually in the US [2]
The goal of this study was twofold: (1) conduct an exploratory, descriptive analysis of balance performance accelerometry measures to find which measures are potentially useful for balance assessment using a single accelerometer; and (2) test the hypothesis that performing a verbal cognitive task alters postural control during the task and once completed
We found that 14 out of 36 accelerometry features differed during a standing dual-task protocol
Summary
One third of people aged 65 and older fall each year, accounting for the majority of injury-related hospitalizations and deaths in older adults [1] and costing $500 billion annually in the US [2]. Falls are associated with decreased independence and lower life expectancy [1]. Older adults are more likely to fall when balance deficits are present. I.e., the control of bodily position to maintain balance, was previously considered a relatively automatic process. Dual-task studies have shown that postural control is altered during various cognitive tasks, indicating that postural control can require demonstrable attentional resources [3]. The automaticity of postural control can decrease with age, leading to greater attentional demand to compensate
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