Differential associations between dual-task walking abilities and usual gait patterns in healthy older adults-Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
Seung-Uk Ko, Gerald J Jerome, Eleanor M Simonsick and 3 others
PMID 29723649WHAT IT FOUND
Failing a narrow-walk dual task was linked to slower usual gait and smaller knee and ankle motion; failing the cognitive part was linked to longer double support and altered knee and ankle energy use.
Key findings
0168% of participants completed the dual task, while 21% failed the motor component and 11% failed the cognitive component.
02Participants who failed the motor component had slower gait speed, shorter stride length, higher cadence, and smaller knee and ankle range of motion during usual gait than those who completed dual-task walking.
03Participants who failed the cognitive component had longer double support time, greater knee absorptive mechanical work during knee flexion, and lower ankle generative mechanical work during ankle plantar flexion than those who completed dual-task walking.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This was a single-visit analysis, so it cannot show that dual-task failure causes or predicts later mobility decline. Participants had to walk safely without aids and had no pain, joint replacements, knee osteoarthritis, stroke, or Parkinson's disease, so the findings may not apply to people with more severe mobility problems. Cognitive failure was not separated into stepping outside the path versus incorrect recitation, so the reason for failure is unclear. MMSE scores did not differ between the cognitive-failure group and the dual-task-pass group, so the cognitive screen used here may not capture the executive and attention demands of the task.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health. The authors declared no financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that dual-task walking training improves gait. This study only compared usual gait patterns in older adults who passed or failed a narrow-walk dual task at one time, and no intervention was tested.