Currently submitted to: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 30, 2025 - Nov 25, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
NOTE: This is an unreviewed Preprint
Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint (What is a preprint?). Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn (a note "no longer under consideration" will appear above).
Peer review me: Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period (in this case, a "Peer Review Me" button to sign up as reviewer is displayed above). All preprints currently open for review are listed here. Outside of the formal open peer-review period we encourage you to tweet about the preprint.
Citation: Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author).
Final version: If our system detects a final peer-reviewed "version of record" (VoR) published in any journal, a link to that VoR will appear below. Readers are then encourage to cite the VoR instead of this preprint.
Settings: If you are the author, you can login and change the preprint display settings, but the preprint URL/DOI is supposed to be stable and citable, so it should not be removed once posted.
Submit: To post your own preprint, simply submit to any JMIR journal, and choose the appropriate settings to expose your submitted version as preprint.
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Examining Sensory Systems that Contribute to Falls in Parkinson’s disease using Computerized Dynamic Posturography: A Secondary Analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Falls in PD are a complex, multifactorial entity that involves motor, non-motor, environmental, and cognitive factors. While the environmental, cognitive, and motor factors that contribute to falls in PD are well-documented, there are limited investigations into the sensory systems that also contribute to falls.
Objective:
The study’s purpose is to determine whether any of the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) conditions or composite scores are associated with falls in people with PD.
Methods:
The study was a secondary analysis of interventions studies in people with Parkinson's disease aimed at reducing falls and improving mobility. This analysis was to examine correlations between the SOT variables (Conditions 1-6 and composite scores) and the number of falls. Further analysis was performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test to determine if there were differences amongst fall groups and SOT variables).
Results:
Data from 40 participants were included in the study, 24 males and 16 females with a mean age of 68.9 (SD 8.1). Spearman rank correlations found significant negative correlations between the number of falls and SOT Condition (P <.05). Condition 1 (ρ = -.331), Condition 2 (ρ = -.512), and Condition 3 (ρ = -.462). A Kruskal-Wallis test documented a significant group effect between the fall group and Condition 2, (χ2 = 8.434, P = .015) and Condition 3, (χ2= 8.708, P =.013).
Conclusions:
SOT Condition 2 and 3 were the variables that showed an association with falls in this cohort. The literature indicates that the vestibular system contributes to postural instability; however, it may be that the early decline of the vestibular system, combined with the later decline of the visual system, leads to falls in PD. Readers should exercise caution regarding the results because of the small sample size and the inclusion of only sensory variables. Further investigations should continue on the sensory contributions to falls in PD and in particular. SOT Condition 2. Clinical Trial: n/a
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.