Abstract
We investigated the influence of visual acuity on foot pressure (FP) and center of force (COF) during sit-to-stand (SitTS) and stand-to-sit (STSit) movements in older adults. We recruited 20 older adult subjects, 10 with binocular visual acuity (BVA) of 0.4 log minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) or more (poor BVA group) and 10 with BVA of 0.3 logMAR or less (good BVA group), from the local community. Both FP and COF were measured using the CONFORMat System while the subjects performed SitTS and STSit movements. The values of FP and COF were significantly lower during both tasks in the good BVA group than in the poor BVA group. Our results suggest that older adults with poor vision were more balance challenged than older adults with good BVA. In addition, they need to rely more on a novel strategy such as armrests to reduce the COF trajectory and to make sure about stability during the SitTS and STSit movements.