Balance in standing on inclined surfaces with different friction

Abstract:
Working and walking environments often involve standing positions on different surfaces with inclination and different friction. In this study, standing balance of thirteen participants during sudden and irregular external perturbation to calf muscles while standing was investigated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the combined effect of surface inclination and friction on standing balance. The main findings when eyes closed revealed that the standing utilised coefficient of friction (μSUCOF) increased when the surface was inclined for both high and low friction materials. The anterior-posterior torque increased more anteriorly when the surface was inclined toes down and when the surface friction was low. The results indicate that the anterior-posterior torque is a sensitive parameter when evaluating standing balance ability and slip risk. On inclined surface, particularly on the surface with lower friction, the potential slip and fall risk is higher due to the increase of standing utilised coefficient of friction and increased forward turning torque.