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According to the World Health Organization, one-third of elderly people aged 65 or over fall annually, and this number increases after 70. Several gait biomechanical parameters were associated with a history of falls. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review to identify and describe the gait biomechanical parameters related to falls in the elderly. MEDLINE Complete, Cochrane, Web of Science, and CINAHL Complete were searched for articles on 22 November 2023, using the following search sentence: (gait) AND (fall*) AND ((elder*) OR (old*) OR (senior*)) AND ((kinematic*) OR (kinetic*) OR (biomechanic*) OR (electromyogram*) OR (emg) OR (motion analysis*) OR (plantar pressure)). This search identified 13,988 studies. From these, 96 were selected. Gait speed, stride/step length, and double support phase are gait biomechanical parameters that differentiate fallers from non-fallers. Fallers also tended to exhibit higher variability in gait biomechanical parameters, namely the minimum foot/toe clearance variability. Although the studies were scarce, differences between fallers and non-fallers were found regarding lower limb muscular activity and joint biomechanics. Due to the scarce literature and contradictory results among studies, it is complex to draw clear conclusions for parameters related to postural stability. Minimum foot/toe clearance, step width, and knee kinematics did not differentiate fallers from non-fallers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The way how individual bars of sensorimotor insoles influence the gait kinematics is not fully understood yet. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of three sensorimotor orthotic conditions (the medial calcaneal and retrocapital lateral bars and their combination) on the gait parameters in healthy adults during the stance phase of gait cycle. Materials and methods: Twenty-six young adults performed 20 gait cycles in each condition using their self-selected cadence and provided standardised shoes with the base-sole and the three types of orthotics. A three-dimensional motion analysis system (8 cameras; 200 Hz) was used and a six-degrees of freedom model was applied. The cadence, the stride length, the first peaks of foot external rotation, eversion and dorsal flexion as well as the first peak of hip adduction were analysed. Results: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found for all parameters between the orthotic conditions, except the cadence. Significant difference in the first peak of hip adduction (p = 0.008) was found between the dominant and non-dominant leg. There were no significant interactions between the factors of condition and leg dominance (p > 0.05). Conclusions: There seems to be overall tendencies in immediate changes in ankle joint kinematics caused by all three sensorimotor orthotic conditions and besides the mechanical principles, also 'proprioceptive mechanism' seems to play a role. However, maximum observed average angular change was 2° and some variability in reactions to each orthotic condition exists among the individuals. Therefore, clinical relevance of such changes remains unclear and careful analysis of expected outcomes should be the common part of every orthotic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to assess kinematic lower extremity motion patterns (hip flexion, knee flexion, knee valgus, and ankle dorsiflexion) during various foot-landing techniques (self-preferred, forefoot, and rear foot) between genders. 3-D kinematics were collected on 50 (25 male and 25 female) college-age recreational athletes selected from a sample of convenience. Separate repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to analyze each variable at three time instants (initial contact, peak vertical ground reaction force, and maximum knee flexion angle). There were no significant differences found between genders at the three instants for each variable. At initial contact, the forefoot technique (35.79° ± 11.78°) resulted in significantly (p = .001) less hip flexion than did the self-preferred (41.25° ± 12.89°) and rear foot (43.15° ± 11.77°) techniques. At peak vertical ground reaction force, the rear foot technique (26.77° ± 9.49°) presented significantly lower (p = .001) knee flexion angles as compared with forefoot (58.77° ± 20.00°) and self-preferred (54.21° ± 23.78°) techniques. A significant difference for knee valgus angles (p = .001) was also found between landing techniques at peak vertical ground reaction force. The self-preferred (4.12° ± 7.51°) and forefoot (4.97° ± 7.90°) techniques presented greater knee varus angles as compared with the rear foot technique (0.08° ± 6.52°). The rear foot technique created more ankle dorsiflexion and less knee flexion than did the other techniques. The lack of gender differences can mean that lower extremity injuries (e.g., ACL tears) may not be related solely to gender but may instead be associated with the landing technique used and, consequently, the way each individual absorbs jump-landing energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to perform a biomechanical characterization of the gait cycle in individuals who are blind. Five individuals with ages between 16 and 19 years participated in this study. The task consisted of walks of 12m measured in two conditions: (1) with cane and (2) wihtout cane; a total of 20 walks in each condition were performed. During walks, participants were monitored with a Vicon 3D-motion capture system. Spatialtemporal, kinematic, kinetic, and dynamic parameters were recorded and compared between the two conditions. We observed an interaction between the condition and ankle angular measures (p = .003); the interaction was due to differences induced by condition in instants ‘opposite toe off’ (p = .045) and ‘opposite initial contact’ (p = .019). We also obtained a significant difference in the negative ankle-joint-power measures between conditions (p = .044). This study showed that the use of cane changes the gait pattern in individuals who are blind. The subtle changes in ankle behaviour when walking with a cane, compared with no cane, suggest better application of the force during the initial stages of support leading to a more comfortable gait. This type of assessment of gait may be important to improve mobility training and rehabilitation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the temporal foot rollover data between straight-ahead and side-cut walking and to establish a reference dataset for obese and nonobese postmenopausal women. Pressure data were collected using the two-step protocol. The initial, final, and duration of contact of 10 foot areas were measured, as 5 instants and 4 phases. Significant temporal foot rollover differences were found during walking with and without directional changes; however, most of these differences were common for obese and nonobese subjects.The trailing limb during the side-cut task anticipated the initial and final contact of the lateral forefoot and increased midfoot and toes duration, suggesting a greater role of these areas in the initial break and in foot stability. The leading limb throughout the side-cut task exhibited longer duration of the heel, midfoot, and stance phase probably due to an increase in the stride length of the trailing limb and leaning of the trunk toward the inner side of the turn. Additionally, obese women revealed a later final contact and longer contact duration of some metatarsal areas suggesting that the greater inertia of these subjects demands more time to stabilize and prepare the foot for the next step. Please provide 3 to 5 keywords for the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]