Abstract

Introduction: A decrease in postural control and proprioception is a common result of lower limb amputation. However, postural control adaptation in Paralympic sitting volleyball players with lower limb amputation is not yet understood. Objective: The purpose of this cross-sectional controlled study was to investigate static and dynamic postural control in sitting volleyball players with unilateral transfemoral amputation. Methods: Sixteen subjects participated in the study, eight of whom were amputees with unilateral transfemoral amputation (amputee group: age: 33.5 +/- 5.6 years, weight: 77.7 +/- 5.3 kg, height: 179.4 +/- 5.3 cm) and eight physically active non-amputees (control group age: 27.2 +/- 8.4 years, weight: 82.7 +/- 6.6 kg, height: 178.7 +/- 6.1 cm). Static and dynamic postural control was evaluated using the Neurocom (R) Balance Master System platform (Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction on Balance, Limits of Stability, Rhythmic Weight Shift, Sit-to-Stand, Walk Across, and Step and Quick Turn). Statistical analyses were performed with the Shapiro-Wilk test, Levene's test, and Student's t-test for paired samples (p 0.05). Results: The amputee group demonstrated impaired postural control in all tests when compared to the control group (p .05) for all postural tests except for the rhythmic change and sit-to-stand tests (p >.05). Conclusion: Despite training in sitting volleyball, our results demonstrated that amputees have poorer postural control in both static and dynamic tasks when compared to physically active non-amputees.