ArticleExperimental gerontology2021
Examining the influence of mental stress on balance perturbation responses in older adults.
Article in Experimental gerontology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- An umbrella review of physical-activity therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing fear of falling among community-dwelling older adults: insights on intervention intensity and duration.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Ageing Population and Balance Under Stressful Conditions-A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Balance bridges upstream deficits associated with falls in older adults: evidence from the National Health and Aging Trends Study Round 13 cohort.Innovation in aging · 2026Article
- Detection of balance in the elderly under the influence of stress (DEPIE): A cross-sectional study protocol.PloS one · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundReach-to-grasp responses following balance perturbations are important to fall prevention but are often ineffective in older adults. The ability to shift attention from an ongoing cognitive task to balance related processes has been shown to influence reach-to-grasp effectiveness in older adults. However, the added influence of stress and anxiety - known to negatively affect attention shifting ability - has not yet been explored in relation to recovery from balance perturbations. Given that fear and anxiety over falling is a key fall risk factor, an understanding of how such a negative mental state may affect postural reactions is important. This study aimed to investigate the effect of varied induced emotional states on reach-to-grasp balance responses in older adults.
methodsHealthy older adults (mean age 70.5 ± 5.38 years) stood laterally between 2 handrails with contact sensors. A safety harness with an integrated loadcell was worn to prevent falls and measure the amount of harness assistance (expressed as percent body weight). With instructions to grasp one rail to restore balance, participants' balance was laterally disturbed using surface translations under three randomized conditions: no cognitive task, neutral (verb generation) task, and mental stress task with negative prompts (paced auditory serial addition). The primary outcome was frequency of protective grasps. Secondary outcomes included frequency of harness assistance during trials with grasp errors as well as wrist movement time, trajectory distance, and peak velocity.
resultsPerceived level of distress was highest for the mental stress task compared to no task (p < 0.001) and neutral task conditions (p = 0.008). The mental stress task resulted in the lowest percentage of protective grasps (p < 0.001) in response to balance perturbations. Closer examination of trials that resulted in grasp errors (i.e., collisions or overshoots), revealed increased harness assistance and reduced peak velocity of wrist movement (p < 0.001) under the mental stress condition compared to grasp errors that occurred under the no task or neutral task condition. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionDistressing mental thoughts immediately prior to a balance perturbation lead to reduced effectiveness in reach-to-grasp balance responses compared to no or neutral cognitive tasks and should be considered as a possible fall risk factor.
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