Walking indoors, outdoors, and on a treadmill: Gait differences in healthy young and older adults.

Background: Although human gait is typically studied in a laboratory environment, the findings of laboratory-based gait assessments are often applied to daily life scenarios. Assessing gait in varied conditions may offer a better understanding of the influence of environment on gait performance.

Research Questions: How do spatiotemporal gait measures differ between indoor overground walking, outdoor walking, and treadmill walking in healthy adults? Do different walking environments exaggerate age-related alterations in gait performance in older compared to young adults?

Methods: 30 young (18-30yrs) and 28 older adults (60-80yrs) completed four randomized conditions at their typical, comfortable walking pace: 1) 8 m of indoor walking, 2) continuous indoor walking, 3) treadmill walking, and 4) outdoor walking on a sidewalk.