The effects of age on medio-lateral stability during normal and narrow base walking

Schrager, Matthew A.; Kelly, Valerie E.; Price, Robert; Ferrucci, Luigi; Shumway-Cook, Anne

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2008.02.009

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Volume 28, Issue 3 , Pages 466-471, October 2008

The effects of age on medio-lateral stability during normal and narrow base walking

Matthew A. Schrager
- Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging—National Institutes of Health, Harbor Hospital Center, 5th Floor, 3001 S. Hanover Street, Baltimore, MD 21225, United States
- Corresponding author at: Health, Sports, and Exercise Sciences Department, 1301 Sunnyside Avenue, Robinson Center, Room 101A, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, United States. Tel.: +1 785 864 0752; fax: +1 785 864 3343.
Valerie E. Kelly
- University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 356490, Seattle, WA 98195-6490, United States
Robert Price
- University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 356490, Seattle, WA 98195-6490, United States
Luigi Ferrucci
- Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging—National Institutes of Health, Harbor Hospital Center, 5th Floor, 3001 S. Hanover Street, Baltimore, MD 21225, United States
Anne Shumway-Cook
- University of Washington, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 356490, Seattle, WA 98195-6490, United States

Received 12 November 2007; received in revised form 21 February 2008; accepted 25 February 2008. published online 10 April 2008.

Abstract

We examined age-related differences in frontal plane stability during performance of narrow base (NB) walking relative to usual gait. A cross-sectional analysis of participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) was performed on data from the BLSA Motion Analysis Laboratory. Participants were 34 adults aged 54–92 without history of falls. We measured step error rates during NB gait and spatial–temporal parameters, frontal plane stability, and gait variability during usual and NB gait. There was a non-significant age-associated linear increase in step error rate (P=0.12) during NB gait. With increasing age, step width increased (P=0.002) and step length and stride velocity decreased (P<0.001), especially during NB gait. Age-associated increases in medio-lateral (M-L) center of mass (COM) peak velocity (P<0.001) and displacement (P=0.005) were also greater during NB compared to usual gait. With increasing age there was greater variability in stride velocity (P=0.001) and step length (P<0.001) under both conditions. Age-associated differences related to M-L COM stability suggest that the quantification of COM control during NB gait may improve identification of older persons at increased falls risk.