Enhancing Maternal Balance: Comparative Analysis of Plantar Pressure Distribution Across and Visual Feedback Within Pregnancy Trimesters
摘要
Pregnancy can have a substantial impact on a woman’s and fetal health and well-being, due to changes in balance and plantar pressure distribution, which raises the risk of falls and associated consequences. The body of research on pregnant women’s biomechanics and balancing modifications is currently quite vast, and methods such as motion capture are frequently used to measure these changes. Nevertheless, current literature often lacks thorough analyses incorporating integrated visual feedback systems throughout trimesters, which are essential for comprehending the dynamic changes in posture throughout pregnancy. Unlike prior studies, this research uniquely integrates trimester-specific balance assessments with an extended observation period (two minutes) and controlled visual feedback conditions (eyes open and closed) to simultaneously analyze intra- and inter-trimester postural stability. In order to address the existing gaps, this study presents a unique methodology that integrates visual feedback to improve the accuracy of balance evaluations while analyzing the center of pressure (COP) in pregnant women both within and across trimesters. Force platforms were used in this study to measure the COP differences of 147 pregnant women, 49 from each trimester. The entire set of data was then statistically analyzed using the ANOVA test. Data on each participant was collected for two minutes, one minute with their eyes open and one minute closed, to better understand the role of visual cues in balance and variations in COP trajectories between trimesters. This method sets itself apart by its focus on the combined effects of visual feedback and trimester-specific adaptations, providing deeper insights into how sensory reliance evolves with pregnancy progression. The unique approach of incorporating long time in data collection has never been documented for this length of time in the literature before. This method aims to enable accurate monitoring of changes in balance as a pregnancy develops and to offer important insights into how visual feedback affects these adaptations. The results target showing which balance problems are unique to each trimester and how well visual feedback works to improve postural stability. This research seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the biomechanical and sensory factors affecting balance during pregnancy, to help healthcare providers support pregnant women in maintaining optimal balance and lowering their risk of falling.