Postural control (PC) is the capacity to integrate sensory information (visual, somatosensory, and vestibular) to generate muscular responses that maintain an upright posture. PC reflects overall musculoskeletal and neurological health. Establishing normative PC values in healthy middle school students (MSS), ages 11 to 14 years, is important for facilitating the early detection of balance-related anomalies....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for audiology practice; findings on sex-based postural control differences in adolescents are primarily relevant to vestibular research and pediatric rehabilitation, not routine clinical audiology.
Understanding sex differences in vestibular and sensory integration during adolescence may inform age- and sex-specific norms for balance assessments used in audiology and vestibular clinics.
- 01Stabilometry was used to measure postural control in 11–14 year-old middle school students.
- 02The study examined sex differences in integrating visual, somatosensory, and vestibular inputs for balance.
- 03Adolescence is a key developmental window for postural control maturation.
- 04Findings could have implications for sex-specific normative data in balance testing.
- 05Published in Journal of Motor Behavior; not an audiology-specific journal.
Sex differences exist in postural control among middle school students aged 11–14.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42531040
- DOI
- 10.1080/00222895.2026.2688778.
- Journal
- Journal of Motor Behavior
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Middle school students aged 11–14 years
- Intervention
- Stabilometry-based postural control assessment across sensory conditions
- Comparator
- Sex-based comparison (boys vs. girls)
Primary outcomes
Postural sway measures via stabilometry; Sex differences in visual, somatosensory, and vestibular sensory integration for balance