Increased intra-individual variability in stride length and reaction time in recurrent older fallers

Abstract

Older recurrent fallers are characterized by increased within-task variability in reaction time and stride length while dual-tasking. In addition, variability in performance is a more sensitive measure in discrimination of recurrent falls than mean performance itself, suggesting deterioration in neurocognitive regulation mechanisms as part of the causal pathway for recurrent falls.

Gait performance of the elderly under dual-task conditions: Review of instruments employed and kinematic parameters

“…Of these, 13 analyzed a single group of elderly individuals [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] and 15 compared groups of elderly individuals with different characteristics. 5,6,[16][17][18][19][20][21][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] Charts 1 and 2 contain the details of the studies included in this review, as well as the details of the samples, instruments, tasks and spatial and temporal parameters of gait in each study. Step time; variability of the step …”

“…The other four studies used a DT with an arithmetic CT, a verbal fluency CT and an executive function CT and found no significant effect on gait speed. 20,21,38,41 …”

“…4,14 The aging process is accompanied by alterations in the spatial and temporal parameters of gait, 14 such as reductions in gait speed and step length, as well as increases in step variability, double support time and step width, 4,12,15 all of which have been correlated with a higher incidence of falls. 5,6,[16][17][18][19][20][21] An assessment of these parameters is generally used to identify abnormalities in an individual's gait. 22 While several gait parameters (reduced speed, reduced step length and increased double support time) can reflect impairment and are correlated with a fear of falls, step variability is the indicator that provides the best representation of postural instability.…”

Loss of gait control assessed by cognitive-motor dual-tasks: pros and cons in detecting people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases

“…From a clinical point of view, dual-task paradigms have been used to distinguish fallers from non-fallers among AD patients. For example, Reelick et al (2011) showed that only stride length variability discriminate significantly between the faller groups in the dual-task, and not the single-task, condition. Furthermore, if clinicians are seeking further information on attention and executive functions of their patients, dual-task gait paradigms might be of value to explore the attentional requirement of balance during locomotion (Amboni et al 2013;Menant et al 2014).…”

Effect of lower limb preference on variability of centre of pressure movement during gait

“…Although the relationship between COP variability during gait and balance or fall risk has not been studied in the scientific literature yet, it could be a potential variable for dynamic balance assessment. It was showed that in subjects with fall history, gait variability in temporal-spatial variables such as stride length (Reelick et al, 2011;Taylor, Delbaere, Mikolaizak, Lord, & Close, 2013), stride time (Hausdorff, Edelberg, Mitchell, Goldberger, & Wie, 1997;Miyoshi, Kinugasa, Urushihata, & Soma, 2011), swing time (Taylor et al, 2013) or minimum foot clearance (Barrett, Mills, & Begg, 2010) and kinematic variables (Barak et al, 2006) is increased.…”