Falls and balance impairment; what and how has this been measured in adults with joint hypermobility? A scoping review.

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.