Gait & Posture
Volume 26, Issue 2 , Pages 208-213, July 2007

Practicing recovery from a simulated trip improves recovery kinematics after an actual trip

  • Kathleen A. Bieryla

      Affiliations

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, United States
    • ,
  • Michael L. Madigan

      Affiliations

    • Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, Mail Code 0219, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 540 231 1215
    • ,
  • Maury A. Nussbaum

      Affiliations

    • Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, Virginia Tech, United States

Received 8 May 2006; received in revised form 16 June 2006; accepted 8 September 2006. published online 17 October 2006.

Abstract 

The goal of this study was to determine if practicing recovery from a simulated trip improved the ability of older adults to recover from an actual trip. Twelve healthy older adults ranging in age from 63 to 83 years were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. Each group performed one trip before and one trip after an intervention. The experimental group received trip recovery training on a modified treadmill while the control group walked on a treadmill for 15min. Compared to the control group, the experimental group showed greater reduction in maximum trunk angle (p=0.027) and time to maximum trunk angle (p=0.043), as well as increased minimum hip height (p=0.020). Although the results showed beneficial effects of trip recovery training on actual trip recovery, future studies should explore the ability to retain improvements over extended periods.

Keywords: Falls, Older adults, Intervention

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

PII: S0966-6362(06)00191-3

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2006.09.010

Gait & Posture
Volume 26, Issue 2 , Pages 208-213, July 2007

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution