The influence of step width on balance control and response strategies during perturbed walking in healthy young adults.

Individuals with neuromuscular deficits often walk with wider step widths compared to healthy adults. Wider steps have been linked to a higher destabilizing frontal-plane external moment and greater range of frontal-plane whole-body angular momentum (H), which is an indicator of decreased balance control. The purpose of this study was to experimentally determine 1) how step width alters balance control during steady-state walking, and 2) if step width changes the balance response strategies following mediolateral surface perturbations in healthy adults.

The influence of altered foot placement and cognitive load on balance control during walking in healthy young adults.

Background: Clinical populations often walk with altered foot placement, which can adversely affect balance control. However, it is unknown how balance control during walking is influenced when combining a cognitive load with altered foot placement.

Research Question: Is balance control during walking adversely affected by the combination of a more complex motor task, such as walking with altered foot placements, with a cognitive load?

Methods: Fifteen young healthy adults walked on a treadmill with and without a spelling cognitive load during normal walking, with step width targets (self-selected width, narrow, wide and extra wide), or with step length targets (self-selected length, short and long).