EFFECT OF MODE OF LOAD CARRIAGE ON POSTURAL SWAY

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People commonly carry external loads for sport and recreational purposes; recently the safety of such practice has come into question. The purpose of this study was to evaluate balance under different load carriage conditions. Fifteen college-age individuals completed three blocks of quiet standing trials: unloaded, wearing a backpack, and wearing a shoulder bag. A-P sway amplitude was greater under the backpack condition than the unloaded condition (P = 0.013); however, A-P sway amplitude did not differ between the backpack and shoulder bag condition, nor did it differ between the unloaded and shoulder bag condition. M-L sway amplitude, sway area, peak sway velocity, and stance width were not dependent on load condition. This evidence suggests a backpack and shoulder bag are equally safe means of load carriage in college-age individuals.