Affiliations: [a] Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA | [b] Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Note: [*] Corresponding author: John W. Rohrbaugh, Ph.D., Department
of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4625 Lindell
Blvd, Suite 200, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA. Tel.: +1 314 286
1369; Fax: +1 314 454 0432; E-mail: jwrohrba@artsci.wustl.edu
Abstract: The relationship between lifetime alcohol consumption and postural control was investigated in 35 subjects with no clinically-detectable neurologic abnormalities, using computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) procedures. The estimated total number of lifetime alcoholic drinks was positively correlated with anteroposterior sway spectral power within the 2–4 Hz and 4–6 Hz frequency bands, in three Sensory Organization Test (SOT) conditions: eyes closed with stable support surface (SOT 2), eyes open with sway-referenced support (SOT 4), and eyes closed with sway-referenced support (SOT 5). All correlations remained significant after controlling for subject age, and were increased after excluding nine drug-abusing subjects. In contrast to the strong findings for frequency-based measures, no correlation was observed using conventional amplitude-based sway measures. These results suggest that 1) alcohol consumption compromises postural control in an exposure-dependent manner, and 2) sway frequency analysis reveals pathological processes not manifested in conventional CDP measures of sway amplitude.
