Background

Balance is considered to be task-specific as indicated by studies reporting only small-sized and non-significant correlations between types of balance (e.g., static, dynamic). However, it remains unclear whether these associations differ by age and the comparability of studies is limited due to methodological inconsistencies.

Research question

Are associations between types of balance performance affected by age in children, adolescents, and young adults?

Methods

Static, dynamic, and proactive balance performance was assessed in 30 children (7.6 ± 0.6 years), 43 adolescents (14.7 ± 0.5 years), and 54 young adults (22.8 ± 2.8 years) using the same standardized balance tests. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) were calculated for associations between types of balance and statistically compared to detect differences between age groups.

Results

Except for the association between static (i.e., medio-lateral [M/L] sway) and proactive (Y-balance test) balance performance in young adults (r = .319, p < .05), our analyses revealed small-sized and non-significant associations between measures of static, dynamic, and proactive balance performance in children (-.302 ≤ r ≤ .245, p > .05), adolescents (-.276 ≤ r ≤ .202, p > .05), and young adults (-.120 ≤ r ≤ .161, p > .05). Significant differences between age groups were observed for associations between dynamic and proactive balance, which were lesser in young adults (r = .161) compared to adolescents (r = -.276, p = .017) and children (r = -.302, p = .023) and for associations between static (i.e., M/L sway) and proactive balance, which were larger in young adults (r = .319) compared to adolescents (r = -.131, p = .029).

Conclusions

Practitioners (e.g., PE teachers) should be aware that associations between types of balance performance are small and hardly affected by age in youth. Therefore, they should be trained and tested individually in children, adolescents, and young adults.

中文翻译：

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健康个体平衡表现类型之间的关系：年龄的作用

背景

平衡被认为是特定于任务的，如研究报告所报告的，平衡类型之间（例如静态，动态）之间只有很小的且不显着的相关性。然而，尚不清楚这些关联是否因年龄而异，并且由于方法上的不一致，研究的可比性受到限制。

研究问题

儿童，青少年和年轻人的平衡表现类型之间的关联是否受年龄影响？

方法

使用相同的标准平衡测试，评估了30名儿童（7.6±0.6岁），43名青少年（14.7±0.5岁）和54名年轻成年人（22.8±2.8岁）的静态，动态和主动平衡表现。计算皮尔逊相关系数（r），以了解平衡类型之间的关联，并进行统计比较以检测年龄组之间的差异。

结果

除了静态（即，中外侧[M / L]摇摆）与主动（Y平衡测试）之间的平衡，年轻人之间的平衡表现（r = .319，p <.05）之外，我们的分析显示和静态，动态，和孩子们主动平衡性能的措施之间的非显著协会（-.302≤ [R ≤0.245，p > 0.05），青少年（-.276≤ [R ≤.202，p > 0.05）和年轻的成年人（-.120≤ [R ≤.161，p > 0.05）。观察到用于动态和主动平衡之间的关联，其在年轻成人为较小的年龄组之间差异显著（[R = 0.161）相比，青少年（ř= -.276，p = .017）和儿童（r = -.302，p = .023 ），并且静态（即，M / L摇摆）和主动平衡之间的关联在年轻人中更大（r = .319）与青少年相比（r = -.131，p = .029）。

结论

从业者（例如，体育老师）应意识到，平衡表现类型之间的关联很小，并且几乎不受青年年龄的影响。因此，应该对儿童，青少年和年轻人分别进行培训和测试。