Citation

Howell DR, Oldham JR, DiFabio M, Vallabhajosula S, Hall EE, Ketcham CJ, Meehan WP, Buckley TA. J. Appl. Biomech. 2016; 33(1): 24-31.

Affiliation

Interdisciplinary program in Biomechanics and Movement Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/jab.2015-0323

PMID

27705076

Abstract

Gait impairments have been documented following sport-related concussion. Whether pre-existing gait pattern differences exist among athletes who participate in different sport classifications, however, remains unclear. Dual-task gait examinations probe the simultaneous performance of everyday tasks (i.e. walking and thinking), and can quantify gait performance using inertial sensors. The purpose of this study was to compare the single-task and dual-task gait performance of collision/contact and non-contact athletes. A group of collegiate athletes (n=265) were tested prior to their season at 3 institutions (mean age= 19.1±1.1 years). All participants stood still (single-task standing) and walked while simultaneously completing a cognitive test (dual-task gait), and completed walking trials without the cognitive test (single-task gait). Spatial-temporal gait parameters were compared between collision/contact and non-contact athletes using MANCOVAs; cognitive task performance was compared using ANCOVAs. No significant single-task or dual-task gait differences were found between collision/contact and non-contact athletes. Non-contact athletes demonstrated higher cognitive task accuracy during single-task standing (p =.001) and dual-task gait conditions (p =.02) than collision/contact athletes. These data demonstrate the utility of a dual-task gait assessment outside of a laboratory and suggest that pre-injury cognitive task performance during dual-tasks may differ between athletes of different sport classifications.

Language: en