EFFECT OF MANIPULATION OF BASE OF SUPPORT ON CENTER OF PRESSURE: COMPARISON OF CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

The postural control (PC) of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) have been extensively studied; however, there is limited information available on the role of PC strategies during manipulated balance conditions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of manipulation of the base of support on the center of pressure in the children with and without intellectual disabilities. This study included 34 girls with mild intellectual disabilities and 30 typically developing children of the same sex and age (7-13 years old). The participants as stood as still on a platform and completed four tasks: feet-together on a firm surface, feet-together on a foam surface, tandem stance on a firm surface, and tandem stance on a foam surface. The displacement, sway, amplitude, root mean square (RMS), velocity, and acceleration of the center of pressure (CoP) were calculated. The results indicate significant differences between the two groups in spatial variables of CoP movement (p < 0.05). Moreover, sway and amplitude were found to be sensitive to changes in surface factors (p < 0.05) and all variables to be sensitive to changes in stance position. There was significant interaction of stance*group in CoP velocity (p < 0.05). Based on the results, children with intellectual disabilities demonstrated poorer postural control than the control group, particularly in more demanding PC tasks. However, the quantitative variables of CoP were less impacted by ID characteristics compared to spatial variables. Accordingly, it is suggested that the role of effective balance training on improving postural control strategies in ID children be investigated in future studies.