Societal Consequences Research Articles

The effect of management control systems in managing the unknown: Does the market appreciate the breadth of vision?

We examine the extent to which broad-scope management control systems (MCS) mitigate the negative impact of a crisis with extreme uncertainty on investor and shareholder expectations and the potential role of boundary systems in this link. We use the COVID-19 pandemic as research setting to analyse this link and market value as a proxy for expectations. Our hypotheses are tested using a combination of survey and archival data from large organizations listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, resulting in a panel of 6257 organization-week observations. Our main results are consistent with the hypotheses. We also conduct a series of sensitivity tests to check the robustness of our main findings. Our results remain significant across specifications: alternative identification strategy, or additional control variables. In an additional analysis, we also examine the role of lenders. Overall, we extend the scarce prior literature on the effectiveness of MCS under crisis management and provide new evidence for signaling theory, thus connecting both streams of literature. The COVID-19 pandemic provides an optimal context for researching this topic because, in contrast to past economic downturns or financial crises, it has required organizations across industries to adapt quickly and respond to new demands with unpredictable economic, behavioural, and societal consequences.

Machine Learning Models for Slope Stability Classification of Circular Mode Failure: An Updated Database and Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) Approach

Slope failures lead to large casualties and catastrophic societal and economic consequences, thus potentially threatening access to sustainable development. Slope stability assessment, offering potential long-term benefits for sustainable development, remains a challenge for the practitioner and researcher. In this study, for the first time, an automated machine learning (AutoML) approach was proposed for model development and slope stability assessments of circular mode failure. An updated database with 627 cases consisting of the unit weight, cohesion, and friction angle of the slope materials; slope angle and height; pore pressure ratio; and corresponding stability status has been established. The stacked ensemble of the best 1000 models was automatically selected as the top model from 8208 trained models using the H2O-AutoML platform, which requires little expert knowledge or manual tuning. The top-performing model outperformed the traditional manually tuned and metaheuristic-optimized models, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.970 and accuracy (ACC) of 0.904 based on the testing dataset and achieving a maximum lift of 2.1. The results clearly indicate that AutoML can provide an effective automated solution for machine learning (ML) model development and slope stability classification of circular mode failure based on extensive combinations of algorithm selection and hyperparameter tuning (CASHs), thereby reducing human efforts in model development. The proposed AutoML approach has the potential for short-term severity mitigation of geohazard and achieving long-term sustainable development goals.

Practical fundamental rights impact assessments

Abstract The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation tasks organizations to perform a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) to consider fundamental rights risks of their artificial intelligence (AI) system. However, assessing risks can be challenging, as fundamental rights are often considered abstract in nature. So far, guidance regarding DPIAs has largely focussed on data protection, leaving broader fundamental rights aspects less elaborated. This is problematic because potential negative societal consequences of AI systems may remain unaddressed and damage public trust in organizations using AI. Towards this, we introduce a practical, four-Phased framework, assisting organizations with performing fundamental rights impact assessments. This involves organizations (i) defining the system’s purposes and tasks, and the responsibilities of parties involved in the AI system; (ii) assessing the risks regarding the system’s development; (iii) justifying why the risks of potential infringements on rights are proportionate; and (iv) adopt organizational and/or technical measures mitigating risks identified. We further indicate how regulators might support these processes with practical guidance.

Respective roles of non-pharmaceutical interventions in bronchiolitis outbreaks: an interrupted time-series analysis based on a multinational surveillance system.

Bronchiolitis is a major source of morbimortality among young children worldwide. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented to reduce the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 may have had an important impact on bronchiolitis outbreaks, as well as major societal consequences. Discriminating between their respective impacts would help define optimal public health strategies against bronchiolitis. We aimed to assess the respective impact of each NPI on bronchiolitis outbreaks in 14 European countries. We conducted a quasi-experimental interrupted time-series analysis based on a multicentre international study. All children diagnosed with bronchiolitis presenting to the paediatric emergency department of one of 27 centres from January 2018 to March 2021 were included. We assessed the association between each NPI and change in the bronchiolitis trend over time by seasonally adjusted multivariable quasi-Poisson regression modelling. In total, 42 916 children were included. We observed an overall cumulative 78% (95% CI -100- -54%; p<0.0001) reduction in bronchiolitis cases following NPI implementation. The decrease varied between countries from -97% (95% CI -100- -47%; p=0.0005) to -36% (95% CI -79-7%; p=0.105). Full lockdown (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.21 (95% CI 0.14-0.30); p<0.001), secondary school closure (IRR 0.33 (95% CI 0.20-0.52); p<0.0001), wearing a mask indoors (IRR 0.49 (95% CI 0.25-0.94); p=0.034) and teleworking (IRR 0.55 (95% CI 0.31-0.97); p=0.038) were independently associated with reducing bronchiolitis. Several NPIs were associated with a reduction of bronchiolitis outbreaks, including full lockdown, school closure, teleworking and facial masking. Some of these public health interventions may be considered to further reduce the global burden of bronchiolitis.

Including the social in the circular: A mapping of the consequences of a circular economy transition in the city of Umeå, Sweden

The circular economy (CE) model, where resources are kept "in the loop" for as long as possible through a series of reusing, remanufacturing, recycling, and recovery strategies, has been acclaimed for reducing the environmental impacts of our current economic model substantially and has therefore been supported by a wide range of policymakers as one solution to tackling climate change. However, how circular transitions in cities impact people has been rarely researched, and even less attention has been paid to the negative consequences of CE transitions.This paper presents the findings from a social impact assessment conducted in the city of Umeå, Sweden. We identified several negative impacts of a CE transition across seven social impact categories and explored three areas in depth with stakeholders in the city: employment, access to services and participation. We found that the negative impacts of the CE are perceived to be limited and that the CE interventions are mainly viewed as a win-win-win outcome, i.e., a win for the environment, the economy and people. This raises questions about the level to which societal consequences have been considered and whether all relevant stakeholders, in particular civil society, have participated in the design of the city's CE strategy. Our findings can inform other cities about possible negative consequences of CE transitions and provide insights into how to incorporate different stakeholders in the CE transition process to ensure that no one is left behind.

"Selviääkö tästä mitenkään?"

The current fossil fuel reliant global energy system is in rapid transition towards low-carbon energy sources. In the Finnish context, a significant target for emission reduction policies has been the country’s carbon dioxide intensive peat energy sector. As a part of the path towards a climate neutral Finland by 2035, the government has set the aim to halve peat energy use by 2030 and, as a part of these transition policies, the principle of providing a just transition for those deriving their livelihood from peat harvesting has been embraced. However, the use of peat has been declining at a much more rapid pace than anticipated, also jeopardizing the just transition promised for those engaged in the peat industry. In this article, we take a focus on the experiences of those who are deriving their livelihood from peat harvesting and related activities with an interest on how they are experiencing the justness of Finland’s peat policies and the ongoing transition. The experiences of our 400 survey respondents reflect the grave societal, economic and human consequences of the multifaceted failures of Finland’s peat transition policies. The lessons learned from the Finnish peat transition can be utilized in planning and implementing more sustainable policies for other livelihoods facing similar transitions. peat; energy; climate; just transition; Finland

Persistent cross-species SARS-CoV-2 variant infectivity predicted via comparative molecular dynamics simulation.

Widespread human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 highlights the substantial public health, economic and societal consequences of virus spillover from wildlife and also presents a repeated risk of reverse spillovers back to naive wildlife populations. We employ comparative statistical analyses of a large set of short-term molecular dynamic (MD) simulations to investigate the potential human-to-bat (genus Rhinolophus) cross-species infectivity allowed by the binding of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) across the bat progenitor strain and emerging human strain variants of concern (VOC). We statistically compare the dampening of atom motion across protein sites upon the formation of the RBD/ACE2 binding interface using various bat versus human target receptors (i.e. bACE2 and hACE2). We report that while the bat progenitor viral strain RaTG13 shows some pre-adaption binding to hACE2, it also exhibits stronger affinity to bACE2. While early emergent human strains and later VOCs exhibit robust binding to both hACE2 and bACE2, the delta and omicron variants exhibit evolutionary adaption of binding to hACE2. However, we conclude there is a still significant risk of mammalian cross-species infectivity of human VOCs during upcoming waves of infection as COVID-19 transitions from a pandemic to endemic status.

Trustworthiness perception is mandatory: Task instructions do not modulate fast periodic visual stimulation trustworthiness responses

Although it is often assumed that humans spontaneously respond to the trustworthiness of others' faces, it is still unclear whether responses to facial trust are mandatory or can be modulated by instructions. Considerable scientific interest lies in understanding whether trust processing is mandatory, given the societal consequences of biased trusting behavior. We tested whether neural responses indexing trustworthiness discrimination depended on whether the task involved focusing on facial trustworthiness or not, using a fast periodic visual stimulation electroencephalography oddball paradigm with a neural marker of trustworthiness discrimination at 1 Hz. Participants judged faces on size without any reference to trust, explicitly formed impressions of facial trust, or were given a financial lending context that primed trust, without explicit trust judgement instructions. Significant trustworthiness discrimination responses at 1 Hz were found in all three conditions, demonstrating the robust nature of trustworthiness discrimination at the neural level. Moreover, no effect of task instruction was observed, with Bayesian analyses providing moderate to decisive evidence that task instruction did not affect trustworthiness discrimination. Our finding that visual trustworthiness discrimination is mandatory points to the remarkable spontaneity of trustworthiness processing, providing clues regarding why these often unreliable impressions are ubiquitous.

Invalidating the Leadership of Muslim Spiritual Leaders in Death From COVID-And Shaping the Grief Journey - A Narrative Inquiry.

This narrative study voices the perspectives of a hidden population, spiritual leaders of the Muslim minority in Israel whose leadership in attending to deaths throughout COVID-19 was invalidated. Findings elucidate their dilemmas as being responsible for protecting the community from infection on one hand, and for guiding religious death rituals and preventing disenfranchised grief of families and the community on the other hand. Denying religious minorities their right to conduct traditions in a safe manner and leaving spiritual leaders outside of decision making on shaping COVID-19 guidelines creates distrust and deepens aggravation of enfranchised grief. As the global society is becoming religiously fragmented, distrust of religious minorities in health authorities due to denial of burial of death rituals, funerals, and burials, may have societal consequences and must be considered. Recommendations of this study may assist authorities in creating guidelines that accord with the laws, traditions, and values of religions minorities, empowering their spiritual leaders.

Trends characterizing technological innovations that increase environmental pressure: A typology to support action for sustainable consumption

Technological innovation is widely recognized as an endogenous element of capitalism driving economic growth and consumption. Although technological innovations have benefited human health, quality of life, and comfort, especially in high-income countries, uncontrolled industrialization of technological innovations and mass consumption exert strong environmental pressure on natural resources and contribute to the degradation of the environment. Apart from their endogenous role in economy and consumption, these innovations are characterized by specific trends that affect the sustainability of manufactured goods and consumption patterns, such as rate of market penetration, ownership of manufactured goods, product lifespan, reparability, and recyclability. This paper aims to contribute to a theorization of the relationship between technological innovation, consumption, and sustainability. To this end, we propose a typology of trends characterizing technological innovation to constitute a coherent framework. These trends are then documented to evaluate their magnitude, drivers, and related issues, following the broad principles of integrative literature reviews through a purposeful review sampling. The following trend framework emerged with regards to technological innovations: (a) accumulation; (b) diversification; (c) substitution; (d) complexification. The work contributes to identifying and formalizing: (1) the terminology regarding each trend, (2) related concepts that should be considered to theorize the relationship between technological innovation and (un)sustainable consumption patterns, (3) the main drivers that sustain these trends, (4) interactions between these trends, and (5) societal consequences on material and energy consumption and waste management.

People with diabetes have a substantial lower life expectancty

Abstract Background People with diabetes live shorter lives on average than people without diabetes. This is not only because they have diabetes, but also more often other chronic diseases. This causes a greater risk of death. It makes a difference what kind of diabetes someone has. In type 1 diabetes, the natural immune system does not work properly. In type 2, an unhealthy lifestyle plays a role. An unhealthy lifestyle increases the chance that someone will get type 2 diabetes and the chance that that person will die of another disease, such as cardiovascular disease. Methods RIVM has linked general practitioners’ data from 2012-2019 to the vital statistics of the Dutch National Statistical Office. The population of people registered with and without diabetes were coupled with the mortality data. Making use of life tables, associated life expectancies were calculated. For people under the age of 45, no robust analysis could be made. Results People aged 45 with type 1 diabetes live on average 13 years shorter than people without diabetes. For a 45-year-old with type 2 diabetes, that is on average 4 years shorter. The chance of dying is about 5 times greater for people aged 45 to 60 with type 1 diabetes than for people without diabetes of this age. This difference becomes smaller as they get older, because people without diabetes also get one or more diseases more often. In type 2 diabetes, the mortality rate for people aged 45 to 60 years is about 2 times greater than for people without diabetes. Again, the difference decreases as they age. Conclusions A substantial lower life expectancy of 13 years for type 1 and 4 years for type 2 diabetes has different societal and policy consequences. Since type diabetes 1 is unavoidable, more attention should be given to living with this condition, while for type 2 prevention of for example overweight should get attention. Key messages • People with for type 1 and type 2 diabetes have 13 and 4 years lower life expectancy. • More attention should be given to prevention and to living with diabetes.

WICID 2.0: Integrating evidence and ethics in decisionmaking and guideline development on SARS-CoV-2

Abstract Evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) requires the balancing of numerous and often conflicting factors. During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, sound and fair EIDM procedures were challenged by time constraints and limited evidence. Beneficial effects had to be weight against public health impacts beyond COVID-19, broad societal consequences, or individual liberties. Evidence-to-decision (EtD) frameworks are neither able nor intended to replace stakeholder participation, but can serve as a tool to ensure the relevance and completeness of criteria to be considered for EIDM in public health and guideline development. Employing ‘best-fit’ framework synthesis, we used the WHO-INTEGRATE framework as a starting point to develop the WHO-INTEGRATE COVID-19 framework version 1.0. WICID 1.0 is based on a content analysis of comprehensive strategy documents to guide policy makers in implementing new or decrease existing measures to protect against COVID-19 in Germany. WICID 1.0 was validated by coding the framework against an updated set of the key strategy documents, and key strategy documents addressing non-pharmacological measures in long-term care facilities. In total, 12 key strategy documents were analysed to develop WICID 1.0, and 18 + 23 documents were analyzed for its refinement towards WICID 2.0. The revised framework consists of 11 + 1 criteria and includes implications for the health of individuals and populations due to and beyond COVID-19, infringement on liberties and fundamental human rights, acceptability and equity considerations, societal, environmental and economic implications, as well as implementation, resource and feasibility considerations. Validation found high consistency with minor revisions between WICID 1.0 and 2.0. WICID can be a tool to support researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to systematically integrate evidence and ethics and to balance of health, societal and other considerations when reflecting on PH interventions targeting COVID-19. Key messages • Due to the rapidly developing pandemic, decision-making process often did not include the views of all affected stakeholders and did not adequately include all criteria and considerations of relevance. • The WICID Framework can serve as a tool to support decision-makers in accounting for relevant considerations and criteria, even when not all stakeholders could be included.

Gendered patterns in students’ motivation profiles regarding iSTEM and STEM test scores: a cluster analysis

BackgroundPromoting and improving STEM education is being driven by economic concerns as modern economies have a rising demand for qualified researchers, technicians, and other STEM professionals. In addition, women remain under-represented in STEM-related fields, with significant economic and societal consequences. Abundant research has shown that gendered pathways into and away from STEM are mediated through motivation, but there is paucity of knowledge regarding gendered patterns in high school students’ motivation profiles, especially in transdisciplinary domains like integrated STEM (iSTEM). This study addresses these gaps by examining the interconnection between patterns in motivation profiles towards integrated STEM (iSTEM), gender and STEM test scores.ResultsUsing cluster analysis in a sample of N = 755 eighth grade students, we established four distinct motivation profiles. Subsequently, a multinomial logistic regression was performed to calculate predicted probabilities for cluster membership based on gender and test scores. Cluster distributions indicate significant differences based on gender and test score. Although our analysis shows no difference in average test scores, significant gender differences can be found in and between motivation profiles. For instance, girls are more likely to belong to a less favorable profile cluster than boys. In that cluster, girls have on average a significantly higher test score compared to boys, indicating a differential effect of motivation profiles.ConclusionsThe concept of motivational co-expression emphasizes a need for instructors to move past the simple high or low motivation labels, and toward an appraisal that recognizes how students adopt a complex interplay of motivation types. Moreover, the gender analyses raise questions about how we can move towards more equitable approaches.

Suffering in the Name of Protecting: The Case of the Fukushima Population

Major nuclear accidents are rare events causing large and long-lasting medical, environmental, economic, and societal consequences. Urgent mass evacuation and long-term displacement of about 165.000 persons and their long-term resettlement after the 2011 Fukushima-1 accident destabilized Japan. As of March 2020, the official number of displaced persons from their home in Fukushima Prefecture was reduced to 40.335, an action that averted a collective effective dose of about 3,000 man.Sv. Most of the causalities were elderely volunarable pesons, such as patients with chronic diseases, instititionalized individuals, and very poor persons. However, no early radiation-induced somatic effects to public were reported. This article seeks to compare the benefit of the evacuation/resettlement procedure with its cost. The accident-related death toll in Fukushima Prefecture has to be differantiated from that due to the earthquaque and the tsunami that trigered the foressen and prevenatble nuclear 2011 accident. Taking into acount the ratio of the direct and the indirect deaths at the Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures, can be assumed that out the 2.313 indirect life losses in Fukushima registered up at to 2020, only about 165 could be attributed to the eartquake and the tsuami, and few tens due to the radiation induced cancer among the dispaced persons. The mass dispacement resulted in increased incidence of severe somatic effects, mental and psychic disorders, social isolation, insecurity, unemployment, poverty, urbanization, and exploitation. Therefore, the mitigation actions, as designed and implemented, led in a secondary tragedy larger than that due the accident itself, resulting among other things to the death of about 2.100 persons in the name of sparing, in theory, about 150 lives with a latency time of decades

Influencing discussions and use of neuroadvancements: Perspectives of Canadian occupational therapists.

The early involvement of many actors including health professionals is identified in neuroethics and neurogovernance discussions as crucial in constructing conversations around awareness, reaction, and knowledge development pertaining to the ethical, legal, and societal consequences of neuroscientific or neurotechnological advancements (NA). Occupational Therapists (OTs) have a stake in NA; however, OTs are rarely mentioned within this context. Lifelong learning (LL) could be used to increase OTs knowledge on NA and its consequences. However, LL is rarely mentioned within neuroethics and neurogovernance discussions. The study's purpose is to understand the role of OTs as professionals and citizens in neuroethics and neurogovernance discussions and to examine the utility of LL processes put in place for OTs to empower OTs to contribute in a meaningful way to NA discussions. 8 semi-structured interviews with OTs were conducted and analyzed using a directed content analysis. Although participants believed OTs can provide a holistic perspective to neurogovernance discussions, their knowledge on NA and its consequences is limited, and LL is not used as a tool to remain informed about such consequences. More education on NA and its consequences throughout their OT degree and through LL opportunities is warranted to facilitate their involvement.

Electrochemical Methodologies for the Detection of Traditional and Emerging Illicit Drugs

Drug abuse and drug addiction is a multifaceted problem which has for a long time had far-reaching societal and physical consequences. In recent years, these negative effects have been further exacerbated by an increase in the production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs. Furthermore, the introduction of potent synthetic analogues and compounds known as New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) to the illicit drug market and their rapid proliferation has lead to an unprecedented threat to public health and safety. As such, the necessity has grown for the development of robust screening methodologies for these compounds within forensic and clinical research. Electroanalytical chemistry has quickly become a popular and powerful tool to address such demands. Electrochemical sensors evade many of the pitfalls associated with conventional detection methods, allowing for exceptionally good analytical performance at minimal cost.Within this contribution we present the use of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) as a novel screening methodology for the detection of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCs), which are the most prevalent group of NPS currently being monitored by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. AB-CHMICA, NE-CHMIMO, BB-22 and 5F-ADB-PINACA were all successfully detected at relevant concentrations using the developed screen-printed electrode ruthenium-based sensor. While in its infancy, these results show the potential of ECL as a screening methodology for SCs and leave much to be explored including its applicability to street and biological samples.Moreover, we aim to highlight the diversity of electrochemical techniques toward illicit drug detection via investigation into the use of wearable electrochemical sensors for the detection of traditional cannabinoids and benzodiazepines.

PO173 / #1050 PROFESSIONAL STATUS OF PERSISTENT SPINAL PAIN SYNDROME PATIENTS AFTER SPINAL SURGERY (PSPS-T2): A PROSPECTIVE STUDY INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF “ADAPTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY” INFERRED BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL INFLUENCE: E-POSTER VIEWING

Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Type 2 (PSPS-T2) represents one of the most challenging and disabling conditions, with prevalence estimated from 10% to 50% (1). While PSPS-T2 affects biological and psychological factors and quality of life (2), it represents a main cause of work disruption with a unemployment rate has been estimated between 50.9% to 81.5% (3,4), generating a huge financial burden (5). Beyond its societal consequences, occupational inactivity is responsible for a major decrease in physical/mental health in individuals.

A mechanistic overview of approaches for the treatment of psychostimulant dependence.

Psychostimulant use disorder is a major health issue around the world with enormous individual, family-related and societal consequences, yet there are no effective pharmacological treatments available. In this review, a target-based overview of pharmacological treatments toward psychostimulant addiction will be presented. We will go through therapeutic approaches targeting different aspects of psychostimulant addiction with focus on three major areas; 1) drugs targeting signalling, and metabolism of the dopamine system, 2) drugs targeting either AMPA receptors or metabotropic glutamate receptors of the glutamate system and 3) drugs targeting the severe side-effects of quitting long-term psychostimulant use. For each of these major modes of intervention, findings from pre-clinical studies in rodents to clinical trials in humans will be listed, and future perspectives of the different treatment strategies as well as their potential side-effects will be discussed. Pharmaceuticals modulating the dopamine system, such as antipsychotics, DAT-inhibitors, and disulfiram, have shown some promising results. Cognitive enhancers have been found to increase aspects of behavioural control, and drugs targeting the glutamate system such as modulators of metabotropic glutamate receptors and AMPA receptors have provided interesting changes in relapse behaviour. Furthermore, CRF-antagonists directed toward alleviating the symptoms of the withdrawal stage have been examined with interesting resulting changes in behaviour. There are promising results investigating therapeutics for psychostimulant addiction, but further preclinical work and additional human studies with a more stratified patient selection are needed to prove sufficient evidence of efficacy and tolerability.

Is cybervetting valuable?

AbstractCybervetting is the widespread practice of employers culling information from social media and/or other internet sources to screen and select job candidates. Research evaluating online screening is still in its infancy; that which exists often assumes that it offers value and utility to employers as long as they can avoid discrimination claims. Given the increasing prevalence of cybervetting, it is extremely important to probe its challenges and limitations. We seek to initiate a discussion about the negative consequences of online screening and how they can be overcome. We draw on previous literature and our own data to assess the implications of cybervetting for three key stakeholders: job candidates, hiring agents, and organizations. We also discuss future actions these stakeholders can take to manage and ameliorate harmful outcomes of cybervetting. We argue that it is the responsibility of the organizations engaged in cybervetting to identify specific goals, develop formal policies and practices, and continuously evaluate outcomes so that negative societal consequences are minimized. Should they fail to do so, professional and industry associations as well as government can and should hold them accountable.

The short-term effect of a myofascial protocol versus light touch applied to the cervical spine towards the prevention of balance disorders in the elderly: protocol of a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundFalling is a major trauma that can occur with aging, leading to very significant psychological and physical health effects with financial and societal consequences. It is therefore essential to explore therapeutic treatments that can reduce this risk. Some recognized effective treatments exist, concerning in particular the re-education of the muscles of the lower limbs. However, to our knowledge, none of them focus on the cervical spine although the latter is located at an essential physiological crossroads. Manual therapy, which has already demonstrated its impact on pain and balance parameters in the elderly, could be a painless and non-invasive tool of choice in addressing this problem.MethodsInterventional study (not related to a health product), monocentric, prospective, controlled, randomized double-blind (patient and evaluator performing the measurements). The experiment will take place over three measurement periods on D0, D7 and D21. On D0 subjects will be randomized in 2 groups: experimental and placebo group. Both groups will be assessed on: Short Physical Performance Battery test score, walking speed, lower limb strength, balance, heart rate variability and cervical spine strength and mobility. Then the experimental group will receive a myofascial release protocol applied to the cervical spine and the placebo group will receive a placebo light touch protocol. The intervention will be followed by the same measurements as before. This schedule will be reproduced on D7. On D21, only one assessment will be done.DiscussionThis study started in 2020 but could not go beyond the inclusion phase due to the COVID pandemic. It is envisaged that recruitment could resume during 2022.Trial registration: Registered by the Comité de Protection des Personnes—Sud Méditerranée; under the title “Prévention des troubles de l’équilibre chez le senior: influence de la thérapie manuelle appliquée au rachis sur les paramètres statiques et dynamiques», n° 19.12.27.47.259 in date of February 4, 2020.Registered by ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05475652; under the title « The Influence of Manual Therapy Applied to the Cervical Spine in the Prevention of Balance Disorders in the Elderly (ManEq)”.