Using crutches during walking possibly reduces gait imagery accuracy among healthy young and older adults.
Miyoko Watanabe, Hiroaki Tani
PMID 36213196WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy adults overestimated how fast they would walk with crutches, and this error was larger in older adults.
Without crutches, older adults underestimated their speed. This suggests crutch use disrupts movement prediction, potentially increasing fall risk.
Key findings
01Both young and older adults significantly overestimated their gait speed when using crutches compared to walking normally.
02Older adults showed greater overestimation of gait speed with crutches than young adults did.
03In the no-crutch condition, older adults significantly underestimated their gait speed, while young adults did not.
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 included only healthy individuals with no prior experience using crutches, so results may not apply to patients with existing injuries or those accustomed to assistive devices. The crutch walking task was a simulation of a lower limb injury (partial weight bearing), which may not fully replicate the physical and cognitive demands of a real clinical scenario. The study measured accuracy in a controlled environment over a short distance (10 meters), which may not reflect complex real-world navigation.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 17K18053.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that healthy young adults are immune to errors in movement prediction when using crutches. While older adults made larger errors, the study found that both groups significantly overestimated their walking speed with crutches, indicating that this is a general effect of the device's cognitive load rather than just an age-related decline.