Study of postural control and body balance in subjects with down syndrome

Purpose. Body imbalance and poor postural control have negative impact on gait and may increase the risk of falling in healthy individuals as well as those with Down syndrome (DS). Since people with DS have lower physical levels than people who do not present this condition, the purpose of our research was to compare features of postural control and body balance between subjects affected by DS and a control sample. Methods. Participants enrolled were divided into the following two groups: A DS group (DSG; n = 22; 9 females and 13 males; age range: 16-36 years) and an age-matched control group (CG; n = 25; 11 females and 14 males; age range: 16-36 years). All participants were subjected to two stabilometric tests: Eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC), 30 s each, in bipedal upright stance on a platform. Results. The main results showed significantly higher values for the ellipse sway area in DSG compared with CG, both in the EO (p = 0.009) and in the EC trial (p = 0.000). Moreover, significantly higher values were revealed for the sway path length (p = 0.013), maximum speed of sway (p = 0.001), and average speed of sway (p = 0.046) in the EC than in the EO trial. Conclusions. We infer that a delay in multi-sensory integration processes in the nervous system for controlling body posture could underlie lower body balance in DS.