Body composition affects vestibular and proprioceptive balance components in young adults: a cross-sectional study

Balance is a complex motor skill, composed of three integrated components: visual, vestibular and proprioceptive. They cooperate in order to allow the subject to maintain a stable posture and to be able to respond promptly to destabilizing stimuli. The literature is still uncertain in establishing whether body composition, in terms of percentage of lean mass (% LM) and fat mass (% FM) can influence this capacity. Furthermore, studies that show an effective correlation between these two factors have never investigated whether all components of balance are affected or only some of them(1). The goal of this study was to assess whether body composition and balance, or at least some of its components, are related. 32 young adults (23 females, 9 males; age = 21.9 ± 3.6; BMI = 22.83 ± 2.86) were recruited. Following a body composition analysis performed by plicometry (7-folds method (2)), the participants underwent a test for the assessment of balance (m-CTSIB, Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction in Balance (3)). This test can discriminate the three components of this ability, through 4 different subtests: 1. eyes open on a rigid surface; 2. eyes closed on a rigid surface; 3. eyes open on a soft surface; 4. eyes closed on a soft surface. An oscillation index was then derived in each of the tests. Linear correlation analyzes were performed. As expected, statistical significance emerged in the correlation between the general oscillation index, deriving from the average of the 4 tests described above, and % FM and % LM (p <0.05; r = 0.54). However, by examining which components were actually correlated, only the vestibular (p <0.05; r = 0.41) and proprioceptive (p <0.05; r = 0.53) were statistically significant, while in the visual component no correlation was highlighted. Although this study presents some limiting factors, such as the distribution in terms of sex of the sample and the analysis of the body composition carried out by plicometry, it allows to analyze more in depth the relationship between body composition and balance, highlighting the critical components to act on in order to prevent possible adverse events.