Title:

The influence of the design of the assessment method on the attributes of reactive backwards stepping in young adults

Creator:

Chockalingam Muthukumar, Radhika ; Ramachandran, Sivakumar ; Vaidhyanathan, Jayashree

Subject and Keywords:

postural control ; stepping ; Balance Evaluation Systems Test ; surface translation

Abstrakt:

Introduction. Reactive backwards stepping occurs to prevent a backwards fall when a person’s centre of mass is shifted pos-teriorly by an unexpected external force. Methods such as the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) and platform trans-lations are used to assess the ability to perform backwards stepping. However, the response may vary based on the perturba-tions administered during testing, which could reflect the individual’s optimal response capability. This study aims to analyse the characteristics of backwards reactive stepping in both the BESTest and moving platform methods.Methods. In this observational study, 60 healthy young adults were tested for backwards stepping using the BESTest and a moving platform. Three trials were video-recorded and analysed. The first step length, first step time, balance recovery length and balance recovery time were measured and compared between the BESTest and moving platform methods. Mann–Whitney U was used to test the differences at a significance level of p < 0.05.Results. The results showed that the values for first step length, balance recovery length and balance recovery time were smaller for the moving platform perturbation compared to the BESTest (p < 0.05). Conversely, no difference was observed in first step time between the two methods.Conclusions. The design of the evaluation method influenced the characteristics of stepping. The moving platform elicited a more proficient backwards stepping reaction compared to the BESTest.

Publisher:

Wydawnictwo Akademii Wychowania Fizycznego im. Polskich Olimpijczyków we Wrocławiu

Place of publication:

Wrocław

Date:

2025

Resource Type:

artykuł

Language:

ang

Relation:

Physiotherapy Quarterly ; Physiotherapy Quarterly,2025,vol.33,nr2

Rights:

Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone (Copyright)

Access Rights:

Dla wszystkich zgodnie z licencją

License:

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Rights Owner:

Wydawnictwo Akademii Wychowania Fizycznego im. Polskich Olimpijczyków we Wrocławiu