Decrease in required coefficient of friction due to smaller lean angle during turning in older adults.
cross_sectional · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29752052.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.04.038.
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Abstract
We investigated age-related differences in the required coefficient of friction (RCOF) during 90° turning, the difference of RCOF during step and spin turn, and how affects observed differences. Sixteen healthy young and healthy older adults (eight men and eight women in each group) participated. Participants performed 90° step and spin turns to the right at a self-selected normal speed. Older adults turned with lower RCOF than the young adults during both step and spin turns. This was associated with reduced mediolateral (ML) RCOF component (RCOF<sub>ML</sub>) for the older adults. Reduced RCOF<sub>ML</sub> in older adults was associated with reductions in the ML component of the lean angle of the body during turning. This age-related gait changes during turning can be compensatory mechanisms that allowed older adults to turn while reducing the risk of slipping. Spin turns exhibited lower RCOF, resulting from significantly lower RCOF<sub>ML</sub>, than step turns in young and older adults; thus, spin turning is a safer turning strategy for preventing lateral slips. This may suggest that, in older adults, slip prevention may take precedence over balance recovery after slips sustained during turning. These results illustrate a turning gait mechanism that helps prevent slips and falls, and how age affects this mechanism.
Medical subject headings
- Gait