1. The Differential Effect of First‐Time Single‐Point Cane Use between Healthy Young and Older Adults
- Author
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Omana, Humberto, Madou, Edward, Divine, Alison, Wittich, Walter, Hill, Keith D., Johnson, Andrew M., Holmes, Jeffrey D., Hunter, Susan W., and Mottola
- Subjects
030506 rehabilitation ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Psychological intervention ,STRIDE ,Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation ,Walking ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cognition ,0302 clinical medicine ,Physical medicine and rehabilitation ,medicine ,Humans ,Cane ,Gait ,Aged ,biology ,business.industry ,Rehabilitation ,Differential (mechanical device) ,Middle Aged ,biology.organism_classification ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Neurology ,Canes ,Neurology (clinical) ,Analysis of variance ,0305 other medical science ,business ,human activities ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive load - Abstract
Background: Walking aids are often introduced to older adults to enable independent mobility. Single-point canes are the most common device used. Benefits are tempered by research suggesting that walking aids increase fall risk. A better understanding of the effect of walking aid use on gait performance is required. Objective: To evaluate differences in the effect of initial single-point cane use on gait between younger (YAs) and older adults (OAs). Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Community-dwelling. Participants: Twenty-six YAs (mean age ± standard deviation [SD]: 23.7 ± 2.8 years) and 25 OAs (mean age ± SD: 70.8 ± 14.1 years) participated. Inclusion criteria were 18 to 35 years of age for YAs or ≥50 years for OAs, be able to ambulate unassisted, and without any condition affecting mobility. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s): Gait velocity and stride time variability under different walking path configurations (straight path, Groningen Meander Walking Test, Figure-of-8 Walk Test) and conditions (unassisted walking, walking with a single-point cane, and walking with a single-point cane while completing a cognitive task) were recorded in a laboratory. The arithmetic task of subtracting 1s from 100 was used as the secondary cognitive task. Data analysis included separate three-way mixed analyses of variance (ANOVAs; path/condition/group). Results: There was a statistically significant two-way interaction between walking path and condition for velocity (P
- Published
- 2021
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