A comparison of gait stability between younger and older adults while head turning

Fitzgerald, Caitlin A.; Thomson, Daniel; Zebib, Adem; Clothier, Peter J.; Gupta, Amitabh

doi:10.1007/s00221-020-05846-3

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Thus, individuals in the old group probably took a strategy of increasing step width, by which they successfully increased the ML MOS. This result was also observed in a study comparing ML MOS between young and old adults during walking 17 , stepping on targets 18 , and head turning while walking 19 , indicating that ML MOS for older adults 18 , 19 or older fallers 17 are more compared with young adults due to a wider foot placement. The adaptive strategy of increasing step width probably increases the moment around the COM, as reflected in the increase of dCOP–mCOP, resulting in increased momentum around the COM captured by H .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…This measure accounts for the body’s center of mass (COM) position and its velocity with respect to foot placement. MOS has been studied in younger and older adults during walking 17 , stepping on targets 18 , as well as during head turning while walking 19 , indicating that the MOS in the mediolateral (ML) direction for older adults increased compared with that for younger adults due to a wider foot placement. The value of H needs to be within a certain degree to maintain smooth walking 13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of age on dynamic balance measures and their correlation during walking across the adult lifespan

Yamaguchi

Masani

2022

Sci Rep

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In this study, we aimed to discover (1) the effects of age on dynamic balance measures, including the margin of stability (MOS), whole-body angular momentum (H), and misalignment of the desired and measured centers of pressure (dCOP and mCOP, respectively) in the anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions, (2) the relationship between gait parameters and these balance measures, and (3) the relationships between these balance measures. We used the kinetic and kinematic data of 151 participants aged 20–77 years from a publicly available database. Participants were divided into three groups: young, middle-aged, and old. The step width of the old group was higher than that of the young group. Age-related differences in dynamic measures were found in the ML direction and not in the AP direction: MOS, peak-to-peak range of H, and dCOP–mCOP in the old group were greater than in the young group. ML MOS positively correlated with the frontal peak-to-peak range of H. The ML peak-to-peak range of H positively correlated with ML dCOP–mCOP across the adult lifespan. Our findings provide new insights for understanding the effects of age on dynamic balance and the relationships between the metrics. Older adults walked with a larger step width, resulting in a large stability margin in the ML direction, although with increased moment and momentum around the center of mass in the frontal plane.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of age on dynamic balance measures and their correlation during walking across the adult lifespan

Yamaguchi

Masani

2022

Sci Rep

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“…Moreover, head and eye movements were not recorded. Gaze redirection may be an essential subcomponent to steering, so that visual and/or oculomotor deficits should be considered when assessing steering behaviour ( 63 ), because gaze control can be altered in the elderlies ( 64 ). Anyhow, when asked at the end of the walking trials, neither young or older participants mentioned any intentional visual guidance of the walking performance, probably because the path was highly contrasted with respect to the floor and an intermittent quick glance at the curved trajectory at successive time-instants was enough to proficiently progress along the path ( 65 ).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basic Spatiotemporal Gait Variables of Young and Older Healthy Volunteers Walking Along a Novel Figure-of-8 Path

2021

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Background: Locomotion along curved trajectories requires fine coordination among body segments. Elderly people may adopt a cautious attitude when steering. A simple, expeditious, patient-friendly walking protocol can be a tool to help clinicians. We evaluated the feasibility of a procedure based upon a newly designed Figure-of-eight (nFo8) path and an easy measurement operation.Methods: Sixty healthy volunteers, aged from 20 to 86 years, walked three times at self-selected speed along a 20 m linear (LIN) and the 20 m nFo8 path. Number of steps, mean speed and walk ratio (step length/cadence) were collected. Data were analysed for the entire cohort and for the groups aged 20–45, 46–65, and >65 years.Results: There was no difference in mean LIN walking speed between the two younger groups but the oldest was slower. During nFo8, all groups were slower (about 16%) than during LIN. Cadence was not different across groups but lower during nFo8 in each group. Step length was about 8% shorter in the two younger groups and 14% shorter in the oldest during nFo8 compared to LIN. Walk ratio was the smallest in the oldest group for both LIN and nFo8.Conclusions: A complex nFo8 walking path, with fast and easy measurement of a simple set of variables, detects significant differences with moderate and large effects in gait variables in people >65 years. This challenging trajectory is more revealing than LIN. Further studies are needed to develop a quick clinical tool for assessment of gait conditions or outcome of rehabilitative treatments.

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“…3 When walking and turning the head, younger and older adults exhibited the same MoS. 4,5 Different studies investigating adjustments after unexpected perturbation during walking have shown that the initial responses to these perturbations are inferior in older compared to younger adults, but the adaptation potential related to perturbations does not decrease with age. 6,7 Similarly, Roeles et al 8 found no difference between younger and older adults for both AP and ML MoS following unexpected perturbations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Do older adults have impaired stability control during adaptive gait?

Moraes

Teixeira

Otter

et al. 2020

BJMB

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A comparison of gait stability between younger and older adults while head turning

Cited by 11 publications

References 70 publications

Effects of age on dynamic balance measures and their correlation during walking across the adult lifespan

Effects of age on dynamic balance measures and their correlation during walking across the adult lifespan

Basic Spatiotemporal Gait Variables of Young and Older Healthy Volunteers Walking Along a Novel Figure-of-8 Path

Do older adults have impaired stability control during adaptive gait?

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