Time evolution of frontal plane dynamic balance during locomotor transitions of altered anticipation and complexity.
Wentao Li, Nathaniel T Pickle, Nicholas P Fey
PMID 32682434WHAT IT FOUND
Unexpected walking changes, especially cuts combined with stairs, increased sideways whole-body momentum in five healthy young adults.
Crossover cuts produced larger momentum changes before and after the transition than sidestep cuts.
Key findings
01Combining a cut with stair ascent increased peak sideways angular momentum during the correction phase by 41% when anticipated and 75% when unanticipated relative to cuts.
02Anticipated crossover cuts produced a preparatory peak 307% larger than anticipated sidestep cuts.
03In unanticipated transitions, sidestep cuts produced a transition-phase rate of change 70% larger and a negative peak 46% larger than crossover cuts.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only five healthy young adults were studied, and the authors describe the results as initial findings because the number of participants was modest. The participants were not patients, and the study reported no treatment intervention or clinical patient outcome. Arms were not included in the model used to calculate whole-body angular momentum. Angular momentum was measured in the lab frame and was not normalised by walking speed. The tasks were performed on a laboratory walkway and mobile staircase, not on varied real-world surfaces.
Declared interests
The paper states that the work was funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that crossover cuts are more dangerous or that sidestep cuts are safer for patients. The measured outcome was sideways whole-body angular momentum in five healthy young adults during laboratory tasks, not a clinical fall or injury outcome.