Walking strategies and power flow patterns in elders
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Wu, Chih-Xhuan
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate lower limb energy transfer, changes in joint coordination and compensation that elders adopt due to aging.
Design: Experimental, principal component analysis (PCA) and mechanical energy model
Participants: 11 healthy young adults and 11 healthy elders
Setting: Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center with instrumented gait laboratory.
Main outcome measures:
Temporal-spatial parameters and kinematic and kinetic parameters including joint angles, joint moment, joint power and segmental power were calculated.
Results:
Elder subjects showed reduced peak ankle power generation, more knee power ab-sorption and more hip flexor power as compared to young subjects. It indicates that weak plantar-flexors in the elder population generate lesser power for locomotion .While at fast speed, elders generate more hip concentric power than at self-selected speed reveals a hip strategy they adopt.
Conclusion:
Decreased ankle power in elders induces compensation of other muscular. It results in energy distributing abnormally thus evokes hip flexor and knee extensor simultaneously act to balance energy on lower extremity. Lower thigh segment energy due to insuffi-cient ankle power also need more hip flexor power for larger stride length. Elders also produced lesser power from transverse and frontal plane it potentially indicates more instable in gait.
Subjects
Energy flow
Elders
Gait analysis
PCA
Inverse dynamics
Type
thesis
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