The effects of concurrent cognitive tasks on postural sway in healthy subjects

Introduction: Keeping balance of the upright stance is a highly practiced daily task for healthy adults and is effectively performed without overt attentional control in most. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of concurrent cognitive tasks on postural sway in healthy participants. Methods: This was a prospective study. 20 healthy volunteer subjects were included. The cognitive and balance tasks were performed separately and then, concurrently. Postural control task consisted of 6 conditions (C) of the Sensory Organization Test. The cognitive task consisted of digit rehearsal task of varying presentation and varying levels of difficulty. Results: A statistically significant difference was noted between dual task and no task for C1, C2, C3 and C4 Sensory Organization Test scores (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between dual task versus non-task for C5, C6 and combined Sensory Organization Test scores (p > 0.05). Conclusion: During dual task, increase has been determined in postural sway for C1, C2, C3 and C4 for all presentation modes and difficulty levels of the cognitive tasks. (C) 2015 Associacao Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cervico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.