Post-Drive Standing Balance of Vehicle Passengers Using Wearable Sensors: The Effect of On-Road Driving and Task Performance

• Main Authors: Victor C. Le, Monica L. H. Jones, Kathleen H. Sienko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: IMU; wearables; standing balance; postural stability; vehicle motion; task performance
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/15/4997

Postural sway has been demonstrated to increase following exposure to different types of motion. However, limited prior studies have investigated the relationship between exposure to normative on-road driving conditions and standing balance following the exposure. The purpose of this on-road study was to quantify the effect of vehicle motion and task performance on passengers’ post-drive standing balance performance. In this study, trunk-based kinematic data were captured while participants performed a series of balance exercises before and after an on-road driving session in real-time traffic. Postural sway for all balance exercises increased following the driving session. Performing a series of ecologically relevant visual-based tasks led to increases in most post-drive balance metrics such as sway position and velocity. However, the post-drive changes following the driving session with a task were not significantly different compared to changes observed following the driving session without a task. The post-drive standing balance performance changes observed in this study may increase vulnerable users’ risk of falling. Wearable sensors offer an opportunity to monitor postural sway following in-vehicle exposures.