Surface, but Not Age, Impacts Lower Limb Joint Work during Walking and Stair Ascent.

Older adults often suffer an accidental fall when navigating challenging surfaces during common locomotor tasks, such as walking and ascending stairs. This study examined the effect of slick and uneven surfaces on lower limb joint work in older and younger adults while walking and ascending stairs. Fifteen young (18-25 years) and 12 older (>65 years) adults had stance phase positive limb and joint work quantified during walking and stair ascent tasks on a normal, slick, and uneven surface, which was then submitted to a two-way mixed model ANOVA for analysis.