What leads to age and gender differences in balance maintenance and recovery?

Abstract

OA compared to YA have high rates of falls and fall-related injuries. OF have notably higher rates of falls and fall-related injuries than OM. Healthy OA compared to YA, and females compared to males of any adult age, have lower strengths and have development rates for at least some strengths that are lower. The results of the obstacle avoidance and balance recovery studies described suggest that OA are not notably more at risk than YA, nor are females notably more at risk than males, in avoidance and recovery tasks that are time-critical (TC), but do not have high strength (HS) requirements. The results suggest that for TC/HS avoidance and recovery tasks, OA compared to YA and females compared to males are substantially more at risk for injury. The source of these age and gender differences seems to lie primarily in differences in muscle strengths and speeds of muscle contraction once contraction is initiated, rather than in neural factors underlying the sensory processing or motor planning that leads to the initiation of muscle contraction. Perhaps these findings help to explain the high rates of falls and fall injuries among OA compared to YA, and among OF compared to OM.