The Effect of the Base of Support on Anticipatory Postural Adjustment and Postural Stability

Purpose: This study was to identify the anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) mechanism which is represented by the onset time of trunk muscles and the displacement of the center of pressure (COP) according to the different base of support (BOS) during upper extremity movement. Methods: Thirty healthy subjects (14 males, 16 females) participated in this study. The movement was performed for 10 trials during each of various BOS (shoulder width double leg stance, narrow base double leg stance, tandem stance, non-dominant single leg stance) at the 1.2 Hz frequency. Electromyography was used to measure muscle onset time and biorescue was used to measure characteristics of the displacement of COP. Surface bipolar electrodes were applied over the right deltoid anterior, right latissimus dorsi, both rectus abdominis, both internal oblique and both erector spinae. The data were analyzed by repeated one-way ANOVA and Duncan’s post hoc test. Results: The study has revealed following. There were significant differences with muscle onset time in each BOS (p<0.01). There were significant differences in characteristics of the COP in each BOS (p<0.01). Conclusion: The study found that the more narrowed the basis requires the more rapid anticipatory postural control in contralateral postural muscle when the upper extremity movement is performed.