Objectives: To evaluate the effect of leg muscle fatigue on balance and to
determine the contributions of the somatosensory, visual, and vestibular systems to
balance of apparently healthy males and females. Design: Forty-two subjects were
randomly assigned to either the experimental or control groups and then
subdivided based on gender resulting in four groups (10 men/women in the
experimental groups and 11 men/women in the control groups). Each subject was
pre-tested on the Sensory Organization Test assessment of balance. Subjects in the
experimental group then underwent a Wingate Anaerobic Test to induce leg
fatigue. Following the Wingate Test subjects were post-tested on the Sensory
Organization Test. Subjects in the control group rested quietly for a period of
seven minutes prior to post-testing. Subjects: Forty-two volunteers without recent
or chronic history of lower extremity injury, neurological deficits, or balance
problems participated. Main outcome measures: Ratios for the use of the
somatosensory, visual, and vestibular systems and the Composite Score were
calculated. A [2(Group) x 2(Gender) x 2(Test)] mixed design ANOVA was used
to analyze each of the dependent variables. Results: Analysis of Composite Score
demonstrated a significant Group x Test interaction (p<0.010). The breakdown of
the interaction showed no significant Test effect (p-value 0.341) for the
experimental group. However, there was a significant Test effect (p-value<0.010)
for the control group. There were no significant effects of fatigue on
somatosensory system ratio. The analysis of the visual system ratio revealed a
significant main effect (p-value 0.022) for Group. Analysis of vestibular system
ratio revealed a significant main effect for Test (p<0.010). Conclusions: As
demonstrated by the results of the present experiment, leg muscular fatigue is
associated with significantly decreased balance. In addition, fatigue does appear to
have an effect on the utilization of visual and vestibular systems. / Graduation date: 2003
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/31682 |
| Date | 28 April 2003 |
| Creators | Korioukhina, Maia O. |
| Contributors | Hoffman, Mark A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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