Investigating the electrical activity of the lower limb muscles while maintaining static and dynamic balance: Emphasis on the history of falls in the elderly.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 student

2 department of Motor behavior, faculty of physical education and sport science

3 department of motor behavior. faculty of physical education and sport science

10.22034/mmbj.2024.57304.1049

Abstract

This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the electrical activity of the lower limb muscles while maintaining static and dynamic balance, emphasizing the history of falls in the elderly. The research is causal-comparative and practical in terms of purpose.
The statistical population of this research was the elderly who were selected in two groups with a history of falling (10 people) and without a history of falling (10 people) in a purposeful way. using an electromyography device, the activity of the right rectos femoris, biceps femoris and tibialis anterior muscles of the right and left foot was recorded during the balance test. To assess the normality of data distribution, Shapiro Wilks test was used. The data were processed using analysis of variance for repeated measure at a significance level of 0.05.
The results showed that while maintaining balance on the right foot, there is a difference between the normalized EMG activity of the right and left biceps femoris muscle (BF) of the two groups, and in the TUG test, the group with a history of falling showed more activity in the right rectus femoris (RF) muscle and the right biceps femoris (BF) muscle than the nonfalling group. According to the results, the normalized EMG activity of the biceps femoris (BF) and rectus femoris of the elderly with a history of falling while maintaining static and dynamic balance is significantly higher than that of the elderly without a history of falling; The increased EMG activity in falling group can be attributed to the recruitment of more motor units for compensation of balance deficit. Considering that performing static and dynamic balance exercises increases the activity of lower limb muscles in the elderly with a history of falls, therefore, to prevent frequent falls in the elderly with a history of falls, it is recommended to strengthen the biceps and rectos femoris muscles through balance exercises in these people.

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