Sex differences in biodynamic response to seated whole-body vibration: A scoping review

Seated whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure increases musculoskeletal injury (MSKI) risk, particularly for females. This review synthesizes the literature evidence for sex-differences in biodynamic response (BR) to seated WBV. Studies were included if they reported one or more BR outcomes, included both males and females, and exposed participants to seated WBV. Twenty-six studies met the inclusion criteria, fourteen of which reported significant sex-differences in one or more BR outcome(s) under various vibration and seating conditions. Experimental and data analysis methods between studies were found to be somewhat inconsistent and/or incompletely disclosed, making comparisons between studies difficult. This potentially led to the equivocal findings between studies with respect to sex differences. Most authors suggest that regional body composition probably contributes to differences in BR but no studies have assessed body composition by region.