TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Dynamic postural control during (in)visible curb descent at fast versus comfortable walking velocity
JO  - Gait and posture
A1  - Aminiaghdam, Soran
A1  - Griessbach, Eric
A1  - Vielemeyer, Johanna
A1  - Müller, Roy
SP  - 38
EP  - 43
VL  - 71
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: The unexpectedness of ground-contact onset in stepping down due, e.g., to a camouflaged curb during ongoing gait may impose potential postural control challenges, which might be deteriorated when walking faster. RESEARCH QUESTION: Does traversing camouflaged versus visible curbs, at a fast walking velocity, induce more unstable body configurations, assessed by a smaller anteroposterior "margin of stability" (MoS)? METHODS: For twelve healthy participants, we investigated MoS at foot touchdown in descent and in the first recovery step from 0- and 10-cm visible and camouflaged curbs at comfortable (1.22 ± 0.08 m/s) and fast (1.71 ± 0.11 m/s) walking velocities. Three-way (velocity, elevation, visibility) and two-way (velocity, visibility) repeated-measurement ANOVAs were performed to determine their interactions on MoS, and its determining parameters, during curb negotiation and recovery step, respectively. <br><br>RESULTS: No greater postural instability when traversing a camouflaged versus visible curb at a faster walking velocity during curb descent, indicated by no three-way interaction effects on MoS. However, an elevation-by-visibility interaction showed a dramatic decrease of MoS when descending a 10-cm camouflaged versus visible curb. This was because of a farther anterior displacement of center-of-mass with a larger velocity. Furthermore, the walking velocity was independently associated with a smaller MoS and a more anteriorly-shifted center-of-mass with a higher velocity. In the recovery step, participants demonstrated a reduced stability of the body configuration when walking faster or recovering from a camouflaged than from a visible curb. The mentioned result implies that the potential to increase the base-of-support to compensate for an increased center-of-mass velocity, induced by an increased walking velocity, is limited. SIGNIFICANCE: Despite a significant independent main effect of walking velocity, a more unstable postural control observed during traversing of camouflaged versus visible curbs was found not to be walking velocity-related in young individuals. Further research, including elderly may shed more light on these results.<br><br>Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0966-6362
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.04.014
ID  - ref1
ER  -