Citation

Li C, Verghese J, Holtzer R. Gait Posture 2014; 40(3): 415-419.

Affiliation

Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, United States. Electronic address: roee.holtzer@einstein.yu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.gaitpost.2014.05.062

PMID

24973141

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to [1] compare dual-task costs in gait and cognitive performance during two dual-task paradigms: walking while reciting alternate letters of the alphabet (WWR) and walking while counting backward by sevens (WWC); [2] examine the relationship between the gait and cognitive interference tasks when performed concurrently. SCOPE: Gait and cognitive performance were tested in 217 non-demented older adults (mean age 76±8.8 years; 56.2% female) under single and dual-task conditions. Velocity (cm/s) was obtained using an instrumented walkway. Cognitive performance was assessed using accuracy ratio: [correct responses]/[total responses]. Linear mixed effects models revealed significant dual-task costs, with slower velocity (p<.01) and decreased accuracy ratio (p<.01) in WWR and WWC compared to their respective single task conditions. Greater dual-task costs in velocity (p<.01) were observed in WWC compared to WWR. Pearson correlations revealed significant and positive relationships between gait and cognitive performance in WWR and WWC (p<.01); increased accuracy ratio was associated with faster velocity.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that dual-task costs in gait increase as the complexity of the cognitive task increases. Furthermore, the positive association between the gait and cognitive tasks suggest that dual-task performance was not influenced by task prioritization strategies in this sample.

Language: en