Falls and balance impairment; what and how has this been measured in adults with joint hypermobility? A scoping review
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Wang, Erin
Strutton, Paul
Alexander, Caroline
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
People with joint hypermobility have excessive joint flexibility, which is more common in young women. The people with symptomatic hypermobility report poor balance and even falls. This scoping review aims to identify and map the available evidence related to balance and falling in adults with joint hypermobility to support research planning and ideas for treatment direction.
Methods
A framework for the search was constructed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach. Electronic searches of primary evidence were performed using the following databases: Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus and EMBASE. Papers written in English and published between 1946 and November 2023 were included. Titles, abstracts, and full papers were independently screened by two reviewers. Data extracted related to the population, the concept under investigation, the method of measurement, the level of evidence and the result.
Results
Nineteen of 1,950 screened articles were included. In terms of the population, details related to ethnicity of the research participants was missing. The hypermobility classification criteria varied; it was not always clear if people who were hypermobile had symptoms. Concepts related to fear of falling, balance and adaptive strategies prompted by different postural tasks with and without vision were explored. Centre of pressure, muscle activity, kinematics and psychological factors were measured using force plates, electromyography (EMG), motion capture, patient and clinician reported outcome measures, focus groups and interviews. Most papers were low on the hierarchy of evidence (i.e. equal or lower than a case control study). The participants with joint hypermobility had increased sway, different muscle activity, and different kinematics compared to people without hypermobility. When surveyed, they commonly fell and had a fear of falling.
Conclusions
It is unclear whether the participants represent the population of people with hypermobility. Different classification systems were used making it difficult to generalise the results. Although the methods used suggest a low level of evidence, it seems clear that people who are hypermobile have poor balance. The underlying mechanisms driving poor balance have not been explored in depth.
People with joint hypermobility have excessive joint flexibility, which is more common in young women. The people with symptomatic hypermobility report poor balance and even falls. This scoping review aims to identify and map the available evidence related to balance and falling in adults with joint hypermobility to support research planning and ideas for treatment direction.
Methods
A framework for the search was constructed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach. Electronic searches of primary evidence were performed using the following databases: Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus and EMBASE. Papers written in English and published between 1946 and November 2023 were included. Titles, abstracts, and full papers were independently screened by two reviewers. Data extracted related to the population, the concept under investigation, the method of measurement, the level of evidence and the result.
Results
Nineteen of 1,950 screened articles were included. In terms of the population, details related to ethnicity of the research participants was missing. The hypermobility classification criteria varied; it was not always clear if people who were hypermobile had symptoms. Concepts related to fear of falling, balance and adaptive strategies prompted by different postural tasks with and without vision were explored. Centre of pressure, muscle activity, kinematics and psychological factors were measured using force plates, electromyography (EMG), motion capture, patient and clinician reported outcome measures, focus groups and interviews. Most papers were low on the hierarchy of evidence (i.e. equal or lower than a case control study). The participants with joint hypermobility had increased sway, different muscle activity, and different kinematics compared to people without hypermobility. When surveyed, they commonly fell and had a fear of falling.
Conclusions
It is unclear whether the participants represent the population of people with hypermobility. Different classification systems were used making it difficult to generalise the results. Although the methods used suggest a low level of evidence, it seems clear that people who are hypermobile have poor balance. The underlying mechanisms driving poor balance have not been explored in depth.
Date Issued
2025-01-28
Date Acceptance
2025-01-10
Citation
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 2025, 26
ISSN
1471-2474
Publisher
BMC
Start Page
88
Journal / Book Title
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Volume
26
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39871188
PII: 10.1186/s12891-025-08318-3
Subjects
Balance
Falls
Joint Hypermobility
Humans
Postural Balance
Joint Instability
Accidental Falls
Adult
Female
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
88
Date Publish Online
2025-01-28