Award Date
5-2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Department
Nursing
First Committee Member
Patricia Alpert, Chair
Second Committee Member
Susan Kowalski
Third Committee Member
Margaret Louis
Graduate Faculty Representative
Chad Cross
Number of Pages
76
Abstract
The integration of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory components are used to maintain one's postural balance. Postural control changes over time and body sway increases with age. The different sensory systems begin to develop and refine starting when children are young, while in older adults it begins to decline. Hence, it is important to study the changes that occur in postural balance. There is very little known about balance of younger adults. If balance issues are identified early in adult life it is possible to prevent exacerbation of balance decline as one ages. If nurse practitioners are aware of what dominant sensory systems for balance young adults use, perhaps strategies to preserve these can avoid falls as they age. The purpose of the study is to examine what sensory system predominates to maintain balance (e.g., visual, vestibular, and somatosensory) among people in their twenties and thirties.
Keywords
Adults; Equilibrium (Physiology); Ages 20s and 30s; Exercise; Human beings -- Attitude and movement; Postural balance; Posture; Sensory organization test; Sensory systems; Young adults; Young Population
Disciplines
Nursing
File Format
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Gaerlan, Mary Grace, "The role of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems in postural balance" (2010). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 357.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1598677
Rights
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