Standing Balance Control in Patients with Acromegaly

Abstract

Patients with acromegaly (PWA) experience higher rates of falls and fall-related injuries than Canadian older adults. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine if acromegaly influenced the control of standing balance. Bipedal and unipedal standing balance with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) were evaluated in PWA and a control group of patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas (PNA) using synchronized force plate and motion capture systems to measure centre of pressure (COP) and centre of mass (COM). For bipedal stance, PWA exhibited a significantly greater increase in anteroposterior COP mean velocity with EC compared to EO (p=0.047) and significantly greater mediolateral mean absolute deviation of COP and COM (p=0.005) than PNA. Unipedal stance time was comparable between groups and to age-group norms. Despite normal standing balance performance, PWA revealed impaired balance control for bipedal stance in the anteroposterior axis with EC and in the mediolateral axis.