Abstract
The aim of this study was to clarify the differences in the postural reaction between healthy young adults and elderly adults when the subjects shifted their body weight to the right or left laterally in the sitting position. The subjects were ten healthy young adults (mean age: 22.4 ± 0.5) and ten healthy elderly adults (mean age: 69.4 ± 6.7). Two different balance tasks were employed. First, the tilt table was inclined 7 degrees (task 1). Second, subjects reacted actively from inclined 7 degrees to vertical position on the balance board (task2). Young adults group showed significant change of the rotation in task 2 (p<0.05). In most cases, the angle changes of the pelvis and spine in the elderly adults were significantly smaller than those of the young adults (p<0.05), suggesting that aging changes the postural reaction, impairing the adaptability of posture control to different tasks. It was revealed that even for healthy elderly adults, an approach for fallprevention will be necessary because aging affects their musculoskeletal and somatosensory systems.
