The aim of this study was to compare postural balance in single leg stance between typically developing children aged 8 to 11 years old and healthy adults. The participants were divided into 3 groups: 8-9 years old, 10-11 years old and 18-30 years old. A force plate (AccuSway Plus, AMTI, Inc.) was used to measure the postural balance. Each subject performed three trials lasting 30 seconds in dominant single leg stance. The parameters recorded were: center of pressure amplitude the in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions, total path length, average velocity and 95% of the ellipse area. SPSS (version 13.0) was used for statistical analysis. Shapiro-Wilk test, One-way Anova, Bonferroni post hoc and Pearson correlation were applied. The level of significance used was p < 0.05. The results showed significant differences (p < 0.01), between children and adult groups in all variables. Between groups of children (8-9 years and 10-11 years) there was no significant difference in any variables. The results suggest that children aged 08-11 years old have not reached complete maturation of postural balance. This information may be important to aid in the diagnosis of disorders or deficits of balance, both in children and in adults.
Postural control; Maturation; Stabilometry