Postural control in healthy individuals

BackgroundThe aim of rehabilitation is to optimize functional recovery and frequently following injury, the uninjured limb is used as measure to compare with the injured limb. This assumes that symmetry existed prior to the injury. The aim of this study was to examine postural control in a healthy sample to ascertain if differences exist between the functionally dominant compared to non-dominant limbs.MethodsFollowing ethical approval, 20 healthy active subjects (10 males and 10 females) mean age (SE) of 27.2 (1.4) years, with no previous history of lower-limb injury or pathology volunteered to participate in the study. Bilateral joint angle data was acquired to establish the amount of wobble and the strategies of movement used to maintain balance during single-leg stance.FindingsA greater proportion of non-dominant limbs used the ankle strategy, commonly modelled as an inverted pendulum, to maintain balance during unipedal stance (p > 0.003) in the sagittal plane. No differences were found in the coronal plane or for wobble.InterpretationA greater proportion of the healthy individuals were more pendular-like when balancing on the non-dominant limb. Thus an assessment of joint angle changes during single-leg stance may provide greater insight into the postural control strategies and capabilities of healthy active individuals, which may inform future rehabilitation programmes in order to optimize functional outcome.