TY - JOUR
T1 - 30 min of treadmill walking at self-selected speed does not increase gait variability in independent elderly
AU - Da Rocha, Emmanuel S.
AU - Kunzler, Marcos R.
AU - Bobbert, Maarten F.
AU - Duysens, Jacques
AU - Carpes, Felipe P.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Walking is one of the preferred exercises among elderly, but could a prolonged walking increase gait variability, a risk factor for a fall in the elderly? Here we determine whether 30 min of treadmill walking increases coefficient of variation of gait in elderly. Because gait responses to exercise depend on fitness level, we included 15 sedentary and 15 active elderly. Sedentary participants preferred a lower gait speed and made smaller steps than the actives. Step length coefficient of variation decreased ~16.9% by the end of the exercise in both the groups. Stride length coefficient of variation decreased ~9% after 10 minutes of walking, and sedentary elderly showed a slightly larger step width coefficient of variation (~2%) at 10 min than active elderly. Active elderly showed higher walk ratio (step length/cadence) than sedentary in all times of walking, but the times did not differ in both the groups. In conclusion, treadmill gait kinematics differ between sedentary and active elderly, but changes over time are similar in sedentary and active elderly. As a practical implication, 30 min of walking might be a good strategy of exercise for elderly, independently of the fitness level, because it did not increase variability in step and stride kinematics, which is considered a risk of fall in this population.
AB - Walking is one of the preferred exercises among elderly, but could a prolonged walking increase gait variability, a risk factor for a fall in the elderly? Here we determine whether 30 min of treadmill walking increases coefficient of variation of gait in elderly. Because gait responses to exercise depend on fitness level, we included 15 sedentary and 15 active elderly. Sedentary participants preferred a lower gait speed and made smaller steps than the actives. Step length coefficient of variation decreased ~16.9% by the end of the exercise in both the groups. Stride length coefficient of variation decreased ~9% after 10 minutes of walking, and sedentary elderly showed a slightly larger step width coefficient of variation (~2%) at 10 min than active elderly. Active elderly showed higher walk ratio (step length/cadence) than sedentary in all times of walking, but the times did not differ in both the groups. In conclusion, treadmill gait kinematics differ between sedentary and active elderly, but changes over time are similar in sedentary and active elderly. As a practical implication, 30 min of walking might be a good strategy of exercise for elderly, independently of the fitness level, because it did not increase variability in step and stride kinematics, which is considered a risk of fall in this population.
KW - fall risk
KW - fatigue
KW - gait asymmetry
KW - Treadmill walking
KW - walking exercise
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U2 - 10.1080/02640414.2017.1375139
DO - 10.1080/02640414.2017.1375139
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85028867359
SN - 0264-0414
VL - 36
SP - 1305
EP - 1311
JO - Journal of Sports Sciences
JF - Journal of Sports Sciences
IS - 11
ER -