TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of age-related gait changes on the biomechanics of slips and falls
AU - Lockhart, Thurmon E.
AU - Woldstad, Jeffrey C.
AU - Smith, James L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant R03/ small grant. The paper’s contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
PY - 2003/10/10
Y1 - 2003/10/10
N2 - A laboratory study was conducted to examine gait changes associated with aging and the effect of these changes on initiation of slips and frequency of falls utilizing newly denned biomechanical parameters of slips and falls. Twenty-eight participants from two age groups (young and old) walked around a circular track at a comfortable pace wearing a safety harness. A slippery floor surface was placed on the walking track over the force plate at random time intervals without the participants' awareness. Synchronized kinetic and kinematic measurements were obtained on both slippery and non-slippery walking surfaces. The results indicated that older participants' horizontal heel contact velocity was significantly faster, step length was significantly shorter, and transitional acceleration of the whole body centre-of-mass (COM) was significantly slower than younger participants. Older participants' initial friction demand, as measured by required coefficient of friction (RCOF), was not significantly different than their younger counterparts. Additionally, older participants slipped longer and faster, and fell more often than younger participants. A comparison of horizontal heel contact velocity for participants who fell with participants who did not fall indicated that, in general, fallers' horizontal heel contact velocity was faster than non-fallers. However, a comparison of RCOF for participants who fell with participants who did not fall suggested that RCOF was not a totally deterministic factor influencing actual fall events. These findings suggest that gait changes associated with aging (especially higher horizontal heel contact velocity and slower transition of the whole body COM) affect initiation of slip-induced falls.
AB - A laboratory study was conducted to examine gait changes associated with aging and the effect of these changes on initiation of slips and frequency of falls utilizing newly denned biomechanical parameters of slips and falls. Twenty-eight participants from two age groups (young and old) walked around a circular track at a comfortable pace wearing a safety harness. A slippery floor surface was placed on the walking track over the force plate at random time intervals without the participants' awareness. Synchronized kinetic and kinematic measurements were obtained on both slippery and non-slippery walking surfaces. The results indicated that older participants' horizontal heel contact velocity was significantly faster, step length was significantly shorter, and transitional acceleration of the whole body centre-of-mass (COM) was significantly slower than younger participants. Older participants' initial friction demand, as measured by required coefficient of friction (RCOF), was not significantly different than their younger counterparts. Additionally, older participants slipped longer and faster, and fell more often than younger participants. A comparison of horizontal heel contact velocity for participants who fell with participants who did not fall indicated that, in general, fallers' horizontal heel contact velocity was faster than non-fallers. However, a comparison of RCOF for participants who fell with participants who did not fall suggested that RCOF was not a totally deterministic factor influencing actual fall events. These findings suggest that gait changes associated with aging (especially higher horizontal heel contact velocity and slower transition of the whole body COM) affect initiation of slip-induced falls.
KW - Aging
KW - Biomechanics
KW - Coefficient of friction
KW - Friction demand
KW - Gait
KW - Heel velocity
KW - Slip distances
KW - Slips and falls
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0041914242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0014013031000139491
DO - 10.1080/0014013031000139491
M3 - Article
C2 - 12933077
AN - SCOPUS:0041914242
SN - 0014-0139
VL - 46
SP - 1136
EP - 1160
JO - Ergonomics
JF - Ergonomics
IS - 12
ER -