Gait & posture
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Influence of carrying a backpack on pelvic tilt, rotation, and obliquity in female college students.
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of different methods of backpack carriage on pelvic tilt, obliquity and rotation of college-age females. Thirty subjects (mean age 22.4 years) participated in three conditions: walking without a backpack, carrying a backpack unilaterally, and carrying a backpack over both shoulders. The backpack was loaded with material that comprised 15% of the subject's body weight. ⋯ Range of motion for pelvic obliquity and rotation was significantly decreased when walking with a backpack. These results suggest that backpack carriage could cause permanent posture deviations in young female college students. More study is required to evaluate compressive forces during various walking conditions.
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To better understand the effects of varying head movement frequencies on human balance control, 12 healthy adult humans were studied during static and dynamic (0.14, 0.33, 0.6 Hz) head tilts of +/- 30 degrees in the pitch and roll planes. Postural sway was measured during upright stance with eyes closed and altered somatosensory inputs provided by a computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) system. Subjects were able to maintain upright stance with static head tilts, although postural sway was increased during neck extension. ⋯ In the absence of vision and accurate foot support surface inputs, postural stability may be compromised during dynamic head tilts due to a decreased ability of the vestibular system to discern the orientation of gravity. This instability may compound the risk of falling following recovery from balance disorders or adaptation to altered gravity conditions such as space flight. Thus, dynamic head tilts may improve the diagnostic sensitivity of computerized dynamic posturography, particularly for healthy subjects recovering from temporary balance control deficits.