The Circadian Effects on Postural Stability in Young Adults

Purpose: Few studies have addressed the effect of diurnal circadian rhythms on postural stability, and thus the aim of the present study was to examine circadian effects on static and dynamic postural stability in young adults. Methods: Twenty-four subjects (9 men, 11 women: age=$22.20{\pm}1.77$, height=$167.20{\pm}10.47$, weight=$59.85{\pm}10.66$) from a university community volunteered for this study. Static and dynamic balance testing, which recorded using a Good Balance system (Good Balance, Metitur Ltd, Finland) was conducted at 9:00, 13:00, and 17:00 hours on two consecutive days, and the sequencing of static and dynamic balance tests were randomized. Results were analyzed using the non-parametric one-way repeated Friedman test in SPSS version 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), and variable found to be significant were subjected to Wilcoxon post hoc testing. Results: Static and dynamic balance showed significant difference at the three times assessments (test at 9:00, 13:00, and 17:00) during circadian. In the post hoc test of static (anteroposterior distance, mediolateral distance and COP (center of pressure) velocity) and dynamic balance (performance time), 13:00 was the longer and faster than 9:00. Conclusion: These results indicated that control of postural balance is influenced by diurnal circadian rhythms, and confirm that control of postural balance is more effective and better performance in the 09:00 hours than 13:00 hours or 17:00 hours.