Gender Differences in Static and Dynamic Postural Stability of Soldiers in the Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Journal Article (Journal Article)

CONTEXT: Postural stability is essential for injury prevention and performance. Differences between genders may affect training focus. OBJECTIVE: To examine static and dynamic postural stability in male and female soldiers. DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study. SETTING: Biomechanics laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 25 healthy female soldiers (26.4 ± 5.3 y) and 25 healthy male soldiers (26.4 ± 4.9 y) matched on physical demand rating and years of service from the Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). INTERVENTIONS: Each person underwent static and dynamic postural stability testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Standard deviation of the ground reaction forces during static postural stability and the dynamic stability index for dynamic postural stability. RESULTS: Female soldiers had significantly better static postural stability than males but no differences were observed in dynamic postural stability. CONCLUSIONS: Postural stability is important for injury prevention, performance optimization, and tactical training. The differences observed in the current study may indicate the need for gender-specific training emphasis on postural stability.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Sell, TC; Lovalekar, MT; Nagai, T; Wirt, MD; Abt, JP; Lephart, SM

Published Date

  • March 1, 2018

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 27 / 2

Start / End Page

  • 126 - 131

PubMed ID

  • 28095106

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1543-3072

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1123/jsr.2016-0131

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States