Comparison of postural balance among groups of women with different age ranges

ABSTRACT Aging impairs the ability of the central nervous system (CNS) to perform the processing of signals from the sensory systems, which are responsible for maintaining the body balance, reducing the capacity of modifying adaptive reflexes. This study aimed to compare the postural balance among women of different age ranges. A total of 60 women participated in the study: 20 from the young group (YG), 20 from the adult group (AG) and 20 from the elderly group (EG). Center of pressure (COP) data were collected using a force plate AMTI OR6-6. The variables analyzed were the range of anteroposterior (COPap) and medial-lateral (COPml) displacement of COP. Three tries with eyes open (EO) and three tries with eyes closed (EC), lasting 30 seconds for each one, were performed. The results show statistically significant differences in COPml with EO between YG and EG (p=0.10). No statistically significant differences were found in the COPap variable. We conclude that there is an increased postural sway in the elderly in this study compared to young women.