Feasibility of a perturbation protocol to quantify dynamic stability

Falls in elderly are the leading cause of injury and therefore considered a major health problem in our ageing society [1]. A fall is the result of an inadequate restoration of balance when it is compromised. The use of external perturbations to evoke loss of balance in a standardized and safe manner is an increasingly popular approach to measur e dynamic stability, offering opp ortunities for fall prevention research [2]. Although a perturbation - paradigm is promising, little is known about the type of perturbation that is most informative to quantify dynamic stability. Therefore, the first aim of this feasibility study was to evaluate whether mechanical, visual and auditory perturbations can be used to affect dynamic stability. The second aim was to evaluate whether we can distinguish between younger and older adults using the response to external perturbations.