Gender Differences in Static and Dynamic Postural Stability of Soldiers in the Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
CONTEXT
Postural stability is essential for injury prevention and performance. Differences between genders may affect training focus.


OBJECTIVE
To examine static and dynamic postural stability in male and female soldiers.


DESIGN
Descriptive laboratory study.


SETTING
Biomechanics laboratory.


PARTICIPANTS
25 healthy female soldiers (26.4 ± 5.3 y) and 25 healthy male soldiers (26.4 ± 4.9 y) matched on physical demand rating and years of service from the Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).


INTERVENTIONS
Each person underwent static and dynamic postural stability testing.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Standard deviation of the ground reaction forces during static postural stability and the dynamic stability index for dynamic postural stability.


RESULTS
Female soldiers had significantly better static postural stability than males but no differences were observed in dynamic postural stability.


CONCLUSIONS
Postural stability is important for injury prevention, performance optimization, and tactical training. The differences observed in the current study may indicate the need for gender-specific training emphasis on postural stability.
['Sell|Timothy C|TC|', 'Lovalekar|Mita T|MT|', 'Nagai|Takashi|T|', 'Wirt|Michael D|MD|', 'Abt|John P|JP|', 'Lephart|Scott M|SM|']
D000328:Adult D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008889:Military Personnel D004856:Postural Balance D012737:Sex Factors D055815:Young Adult
injury prevention balance military