How older adults maintain lateral balance while walking on narrowing paths.
Meghan E Kazanski, Joseph P Cusumano, Jonathan B Dingwell
PMID 38833762WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults maintain lateral balance on narrowing paths by taking wider steps and slowing their center of mass.
This compensates for higher variability, keeping their risk of instability comparable to younger adults despite poorer clinical balance scores.
Key findings
01Older adults consistently took wider steps than younger adults on narrowing paths.
02Older adults had higher variability in their margin of stability compared to younger adults.
03Despite poorer clinical balance, older adults left the narrowing path sooner, maintaining a risk of instability similar to younger adults.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a treadmill with projected paths, which may not fully replicate real-world uneven or cluttered environments. Participants chose when to switch paths, leading to fewer data points for older adults on the narrowest sections. The sample size was small (38 participants), and all were healthy without significant walking impairments, limiting generalizability to those with severe balance disorders. Treadmill speed was fixed, which does not reflect the self-selected speeds people typically use in daily life.
Declared interests
None reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a larger average Margin of Stability indicates better balance in older adults. While older adults may show larger average margins due to wider steps, their higher variability means they still face a significant risk of instability. Relying on average stability metrics alone can mask the true fall risk in constrained environments.