Effects of whole body vibration training on balance in adolescents with and without Down syndrome

M. Adoración Villarroya, Alex Gonzalez de Aguero, Teresa Moros, Eva Gómez-Trullén, José A. Casajús

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    24 Citations (Scopus)
    524 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The present study aimed to determine whether a whole body vibration training program (WBV) is able to improve static standing balance in adolescents with and without Down syndrome (DS). Thirty adolescents with DS aged 11-20 years (DSG) and 27 adolescent, age/sex matched, without DS (CG) joined the study. Participants of each group were divided into two comparable groups, those who performed WVB (in DSG: VDSG; in CG: VCG) and those who did not perform WVB (in DSG: nVDSG; in CG: nVCG). Static-standing-balance under four conditions (C1: open-eyes/fixed-foot-support; C2: closed-eyes/fixed-foot-support; C3: open-eyes/compliant-foot-support; C4: closed-eyes/compliant-foot-support) was examine, before and after a 20-week WBV training program. For balance study, Postural-Parameters (PPs), based on center of pressure (COP) oscillations (anterior/posterior and medial/lateral COP excursion and COP mean velocity), and PPs ratios among the four conditions were calculated. After WBV training, no significant differences were found in any parameter in the VCG and nVCG and neither in the nVDSG, but there was a decrease of mean values in the analyzed PPs under C4, with significant differences in medial/lateral COP excursion and COP mean velocity, and a significant decrease in the ratio C4/C1 of the mean velocity in VDSG. Therefore, WBV training had positive effects in the balance of DS adolescents although only under specific conditions, with vision and somatosensory input altered. The positive results of this study are encouraging and open a wide field of research, looking for the most efficient program for this population.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3057-3065
    Number of pages9
    JournalResearch in Developmental Disabilities
    Volume34
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2013

    Keywords

    • Adolescent
    • Child
    • Down Syndrome
    • Female
    • Humans
    • Male
    • Physical Therapy Modalities
    • Postural Balance
    • Posture
    • Treatment Outcome
    • Vibration
    • Young Adult

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of whole body vibration training on balance in adolescents with and without Down syndrome'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this