Comparison of Vertical Ground Reaction Forces during Jump between Elderly and Young Adults using Nintendo Wii Balance Board

Objective: The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the Wii Balance Board (WBB)-based jump performance for the elderly and to confirm the difference in jump performance according to age. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: 40 young adults (aged 22.5±2.2 years) and 33 elderly (aged 75.1±5.2 years) without orthopedics disease participated in this study. Standing on the WBB then, with the signal "start," jump vertically to the maximum height at which you can jump, land on the force plate after jump and keep it standing on both feet. All subjects were required to practice the jump sufficiently before starting the measurement, each measuring three times, and the mean values were used. A one-minute break was provided between each trial. Evaluators waited within 1meter for every test to prepare for fall. Results: The vertical ground reaction force of elderly and young adults when jumping using WBB showed a significant difference (p<0.05) and demonstrated discriminant validity. Between two groups, there were significant differences in overall jump time (p<0.05), maximum value (p<0.05), minimum value (p<0.05), center of pressure (COP) pathlength (p<0.05), and flight time p<0.05). Conclusions: This study found that performing the vertical jump, the elderly showed longer jump time, lower vertical ground reaction force, COP pathlength and shorter flight phase than healthy young adults using WBB and demonstrated that as a measurement tool, WBB discriminated vertical jump performance between elderly and young adults.