Difference in Gait Parameters between Young and Older Female Adults



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ABSTRACT

Measures of gait variability are now commonly used to study age-related gait changes. Some studies have shown that older adult fallers, and those identified with an increased falls risk, exhibit greater variability in basic spatiotemporal measures of gait when compared to both older adult non-fallers and younger adults. However, other work has reported no differences in measures of gait variability between healthy younger and older adults, healthy and frail older adults and older adult fallers and non-fallers. The effects of normal aging and orthopedic conditions on gait patterns during customary walking have been extensively investigated. Empirical evidence supports the notion that sex differences exist in the gait patterns of young adults but it is unclear as to whether sex differences exist in older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate sex-specific differences in gait among older adults. Study participants were 336 adults (50 - 96 years; 162 women) enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) who completed walking tasks at self-selected speed without assistance. In summary, women's gait is characterized by greater ankle ROM than men while men tend to have greater hip ROM than women. Characterizing unique gait patterns of women and men with aging may be beneficial for detecting the early stages of gait abnormalities that may lead to pathology.

ETHICS CHAPTER

The main purpose of this research is to collate movement data from the day to day activities of adult. Examples of such activities are walking, standing, sitting and turning. The collated data will provide will then provide objective information on motion, force and pressure patterns generated during these activities. The effects of walking on barefoot or the use of footwear that is already commercially available to the public will also be measured. When all this data has been collated from a wide range of participants, it will then be used as a reference database of standard movement pattern for the clinical evaluation of people who are going through treatment or surgical procedures, also taking into consideration the effects of specific footwear's and sport activities. Finally, the overall information collated which will be databased and used as a referenced dataset can then therefore aid and improve treatment plans and benefit patient care, as well as improving sports activities performance. The collated data will be stored permanently in a database. However, if for personal reasons, an individual does not want his or her data to be stored, his or her decisions will be respected and the data will be withdrawn from the database.

All individuals participating in the experiment will be provided with a participant consentform that also contains a participant information sheet to provide all the necessary information about their participation.

ABSTRACTii

ETHICS CHAPTERiii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Introduction1

1.2 Rationale3

1.3 Aim3

1.4 Objectives3

1.5 Hypothesis3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

2.1 Center of Pressure (COP) and Center of Gravity (COG)4

2.2 Functional and Mechanical Relationship of COP to COG5

2.3 Physiological Subsystems of Balance8

2.4 Vestibular System9

2.5 Functional and Mechanical Relationship of COP to COG11

CHAPTER 3: ...