Anticipatory postural adjustment patterns during gait initiation across the adult lifespan.

The sample was recruited at a state fair and could already walk 50 m independently without an assistive device, so it says little about people who need help to walk. Complete data sets were captured in 149 of 157 subjects, and nine trials across 8 subjects were excluded during processing. Fall history was not measured, so the study cannot say whether these gait initiation patterns predict falls. Only five trials were collected per subject, and some age groups had relatively few subjects. The older participants may have been biased toward people who were not frail and had little movement disability. The task was self-initiated and self-paced from quiet standing, so the results may not apply to cued or fast stepping. Initial standing position and weight distribution were not standardized, and the instructions allowed different effort and timing across participants. Medical history was self-reported, so it is unclear whether lower limb problems affected performance.

ProtoKinetics provided the Zeno Walkway and PKMAS software at no cost, and a ProtoKinetics representative was present for data collection. The authors declared no financial or personal relationships with ProtoKinetics.

Do not treat a missing gait initiation adjustment as proof of disease or fall risk. The study found absent components in 23.8% of trials across age groups and did not measure fall history.