Relationships between footedness and aging on postural control: Evidence from the Yakumo study

ABSTRACT

The effects of footedness and aging on postural maintenance function were examined in this study. Using the postural maintenance task, the trajectories of the centre of pressure (COP) were measured with a stabilometer in the lateral and posterior/anterior directions. One hundred and ninety-three right-footers (112 middle-aged: 40–64 years old and 81 old-aged: 65–80 years old) and thirty-two left-footers (14 middle-aged and 18 old-aged) among healthy community members participated in this study. Using the ratio of the COP deviation area sizes for the open- vs. closed-eye conditions as an index, the ratios in the lateral and the posterior/anterior directions were compared in relation to the footedness and the age groups. The results indicated that the left-footers of the older adults group showed a larger COP deviation ratio than that of the middle-aged group, and the left-footers showed a larger deviation ratio in the lateral direction than in the posterior-anterior direction. These findings suggest a weak postural maintenance function of the older adults left footers. As most left-footers are left-handed, health promotion staff should notice that older adults who are left-handers are at a higher risk of falling.

KEYWORDS:

• Footedness
• postural maintenance function
• trajectory of the centre of pressure (COP)
• middle-aged
• older adults

Acknowledgements

Present authors are much indebted to all participants, members of neuropsychology section (Drs. Iwahara Akihiko, Nagahara Naoko, Hatta Taketoshi, Hatta Junko, Ito Emi, & Hotta Chie), and staff of the Health Promotion division of the Yakumo Town.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval statement

Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Committee of Nagoya University Medical School for the Yakumo Study (2011 # 643) and written informed consent for participation and data publication was obtained from each participant.

Data availability statement

Data will be available upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research was a part of the Yakumo Study and a part of this study was supported by the Grant-in-Aid JSPS #23330219, #17H02647, and #17K1876 to the first author.