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Gait Variability (gait + variability)
Selected AbstractsGait Variability in Community-Dwelling Older AdultsJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 12 2001Jennifer S. Brach PhD OBJECTIVES: To describe gait variability at usual and fast walking speeds in community-dwelling older adults and to describe the effects of increasing gait speed on gait variability. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. SETTING: The Cardiovascular Health Study at the University of Pittsburgh. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-five community-living older adults, 54 women and 41 men, age 65 and older (mean age ± standard deviation 79.4 ± 3.37). MEASUREMENTS: Gait measured at participant's usual and fast walking speed collected using an instrumented walkway. Step-length and step-width variability were determined using the coefficient of variation. CONCLUSIONS: Step-length and step-width variability have opposite associations with gait speed in older adults. Improvement in step-length and step-width variability with attempted acceleration might be a key factor to examine in future studies of disability risk and therapeutic interventions. [source] Dual-tasking effects on gait variability: The role of aging, falls, and executive function ,MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 7 2006Shmuel Springer MSPT Abstract The objectives of the present study were to test the hypothesis that the dual-tasking effect on gait variability is larger in healthy older adults than it is in healthy young adults; that this effect is larger in idiopathic elderly fallers than it is in healthy older adults; and that the dual-tasking effects on gait variability are correlated with executive function (EF). Young adults and older adults who were classified as fallers and nonfallers were studied. Gait speed, swing time, and swing time variability, a marker of fall risk, were measured during usual walking and during three different dual-tasking conditions. EF and memory were evaluated. When performing dual tasks, all three groups significantly decreased their gait speed. Dual tasking did not affect swing time variability in the young adults and in the nonfallers. Conversely, dual tasking markedly increased swing time variability in the fallers. While memory was similar in fallers and nonfallers, EF was different. The faller-specific response to dual tasking was significantly correlated with tests of EF. These findings demonstrate that dual tasking does not affect the gait variability of elderly nonfallers or young adults. In contrast, dual tasking destabilizes the gait of idiopathic elderly fallers, an effect that appears to be mediated in part by a decline in EF. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society [source] | ||||||||||