A Comparison of Postural Stability during Upright Standing between Normal and Flatfooted Individuals, Based on COP-Based Measures
1
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Chung-Li 32003, Taiwan
2
Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Entropy 2017, 19(2), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/e19020076
Received: 31 October 2016
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Accepted: 14 February 2017
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Published: 16 February 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multivariate Entropy Measures and Their Applications)
Aging causes foot arches to collapse, possibly leading to foot deformities and falls. This paper proposes a set of measures involving an entropy-based method used for two groups of young adults with dissimilar foot arches to explore and quantize postural stability on a force plate in an upright position. Fifty-four healthy young adults aged 18–30 years participated in this study. These were categorized into two groups: normal (37 participants) and flatfooted (17 participants). We collected the center of pressure (COP) displacement trajectories of participants during upright standing, on a force plate, in a static position, with eyes open (EO), or eyes closed (EC). These nonstationary time-series signals were quantized using entropy-based measures and traditional measures used to assess postural stability, and the results obtained from these measures were compared. The appropriate combinations of entropy-based measures revealed that, with respect to postural stability, the two groups differed significantly (p < 0.05) under both EO and EC conditions. The traditional commonly-used COP-based measures only revealed differences under EO conditions. Entropy-based measures are thus suitable for examining differences in postural stability for flatfooted people, and may be used by clinicians after further refinement.
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Keywords:
center of pressure (COP); entropy; flatfoot; postural stability
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MDPI and ACS Style
Chao, T.-C.; Jiang, B.C. A Comparison of Postural Stability during Upright Standing between Normal and Flatfooted Individuals, Based on COP-Based Measures. Entropy 2017, 19, 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/e19020076
AMA Style
Chao T-C, Jiang BC. A Comparison of Postural Stability during Upright Standing between Normal and Flatfooted Individuals, Based on COP-Based Measures. Entropy. 2017; 19(2):76. https://doi.org/10.3390/e19020076
Chicago/Turabian StyleChao, Tsui-Chiao, and Bernard C. Jiang. 2017. "A Comparison of Postural Stability during Upright Standing between Normal and Flatfooted Individuals, Based on COP-Based Measures" Entropy 19, no. 2: 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/e19020076
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