Background and Purpose. Traditionally, rehabilitation programs emphasize training balance under single-task conditions to improve balance and reduce risk for falls. The purpose of this case report is to describe 3 balance training approaches in older adults with impaired balance. Case Descriptions. Three patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 interventions: (1) single-task balance training, (2) dual-task training under a fixed-priority instructional set, and (3) dual-task training under a variable-priority instructional set. Outcomes. The patients who received balance training under dual-task conditions showed dual-task training benefits; these training benefits were maintained for 3 months. The patient who received variable-priority training showed improvement on novel dual tasks. Discussion. Older adults may be able to improve their balance under dual-task conditions only following specific types of balance training. This case report gives insight on how this intervention might be combined with more traditional physical therapy intervention. [Silsupadol P, Siu KC, Shumway-Cook A, Woollacott MH. Training of balance under single- and dual-task conditions in older adults with balance impairment. Phys Ther. 2006;86:269–281.]
The purpose of this study was to investigate the typical development of postural control in younger (5–6 yrs) and older (7–16 yrs) children (YTD and OTD) during two gait tasks, including level walking and obstacle-crossing, using a dual-task paradigm, and to compare the results of the children’s performance with that of healthy young adults (HYA). Our findings revealed that gait control in typical children requires attentional resources to maintain stability. Moreover, dual-task interference was less in HYA compared to YTD and OTD. Gait performance decrements in the dual-task context were greater in YTD compared to OTD, whereas cognitive performance decrements in YTD and OTD were similar. In addition, dual-tasking affected cognitive performance more in YTD when gait task difficulty was increased. Results suggest a developmental trend in attentional resources used to control gait in typical children. Postural control during gait under dual-task conditions was improved when children were more mature, as attentional resources increased with age.
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