Lower extremity joint compensatory effects during the first recovery step following slipping and stumbling perturbations in young and older subjects.

Background: The lower extremity may play a crucial role in compensating for gait perturbations. The study aimed to explore the mechanism of perturbation compensation by investigating the gait characteristics and lower extremity joint moment effects in young (YS) and older subjects (OS) during the first recovery gait following slipping (slipping_Rec1) and stumbling (stumbling_Rec1).

Method: An automatic perturbation-triggered program was developed using D-Flow software based on the Gait Real-time Analysis Interactive Lab to induce the two aforementioned perturbations. Marker trajectories and ground reaction forces were recorded from 15 healthy YS (age: 26.53 ± 3.04 years; body height: 1.73 ± 0.07 m; body mass: 66.81 ± 11.44 kg) and 15 healthy OS (age: 68.33 ± 3.29 years; body height: 1.76 ± 0.10 m; body mass: 81.13 ± 13.99 kg). The Human Body Model was used to compute the variables of interest. One-way analysis of variance and independent samples t-test statistical analyses were performed.

Results: In slipping_Rec1 and stumbling_Rec1, the change in gait pattern was mainly reflected in a significant increase in step width, no alterations in step length and stance/swing ratio were revealed. Based on perturbed task specificity, lower extremity joint moments increased or decreased at specific phases of the gait cycle in both YS and OS in slipping_Rec1 and stumbling_Rec1 compared to normal gait. The two perturbed gaits reflected the respective compensatory requirements for the lower extremity joints, with both sagittal and frontal joint moments producing compensatory effects. The aging effect was not reflected in the gait pattern, but rather in the hip extension moment during the initial stance of slipping_Rec1.

Conclusions: Slipping appears to be more demanding for gait recovery than stumbling. Gait perturbation compensatory mechanisms for OS should concentrate on ankle strategy in the frontal plane and counter-rotation strategy around the hip.