Article

Biofeedback has been shown to improve balance in a number of different
populations. As certain clinical populations have a tendency to fall in one
direction, the provision of biofeedback in the impaired direction may improve
balance in that direction but not in others. The purpose of this study was to
determine the effects of uni-directional biofeedback on stance tasks in healthy
young adults. Trunk sway was measured in 40 healthy young adults as they
performed nine stance tasks with and without biofeedback. Participants received
biofeedback about their trunk sway in either the anterior-posterior (AP) or
medial-lateral (ML) direction using a multi-modal head-mounted biofeedback
device. An overall effect of reduced sway angle and increased sway angular
velocity was noted with biofeedback. Some of the effects of biofeedback were
dependent on the direction in which biofeedback was given and whether vision was
present during the stance task. These effects were strongest in the pitch
direction for AP biofeedback with vision present. This study showed direction
specific effects of biofeedback are greatest in the sagittal plane. These results
are important clinically as the use of biofeedback during stance tasks, similar
to gait tasks, appears to work best in the AP direction when vision is present.
CI - Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS