Early signs of standing postural instability in asymptomatic people living with HIV

Introduction: People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can present vestibular system impairments, affecting postural stability. There is limited literature related to visual and somatosensory systems in maintaining postural stability in HIV-positive people. The purpose of this study was to describe sensory systems used to maintain postural stability and how the sources of sensory information can influence postural stability in asymptomatic persons with HIV. Material and methods: Postural stability was measured in 20 asymptomatic persons with HIV with no history of fall (11 males, 9 females; aged 43 ± 8 years). Static postural stability was evaluated during eight conditions that perturbed the visual, somatosensory, and vestibular inputs. One-way MANOVA test was conducted to compare center of pressure (COP), antero-posterior displacement (APD), and right-left displacement (RLD) on a stable and unstable surface. Results: There was a significant increase in the COP, APD, and RLD when the proprioceptive system was challenged on the unstable surface. Conclusions: Postural instability can be detected in asymptomatic HIV-positive persons with challenging conditions before the evident appearance of balance impairments. HIV AIDS Rev 2020; 19, 3: 193-198 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/hivar.2020.99680