Rania Almajid1, Carole Tucker2, William Geoffrey Wright3, Erin Vasudevan4, Emily Keshner5. 1. Department of Physical Therapy, West Coast University, 590 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90004, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Temple University, 1801 N Broad St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA. Electronic address: ralmajid@westcoastuniversity.edu. 2. Department of Physical Therapy, Temple University, 1801 N Broad St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA. Electronic address: tuckerc@temple.edu. 3. Department of Physical Therapy, Temple University, 1801 N Broad St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA; Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, 1801 N Broad St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA. Electronic address: wrightw@temple.edu. 4. Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Health Technology and Management, Stony Brook University, 101 Nicolls Road, Health Sciences Center, Stony Brook, 11794, USA. Electronic address: erin.vasudevan@stonybrook.edu. 5. Department of Physical Therapy, Temple University, 1801 N Broad St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA. Electronic address: emily.keshner@temple.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Older adults show greater postural instabilities under misleading visual cues relative to younger adults. We investigated the effects of age-related visual dependence on motor performance under increased attention demands by adding a motor task and visual stimulus to the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test sub-components. METHOD: We designed a cross-sectional quantitative study. Twenty-eight younger (n = 12) and older (n = 16) adults completed the TUG test while wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) that presented a visual stimulus and/or carrying a cup of water. Outcome measures were turning cadence; gait speed; pitch, yaw, and roll peak trunk velocities (PTVs); and acceleration ranges of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit. RESULTS: Wearing the HMD caused significant performance differences in the TUG test tasks due to age and visual dependence, although performance was lower across all groups with the HMD (p < 0.01). Older adults showed lower roll PTV in turning compared to younger adults (p = 0.03). Visually dependent older adults showed smaller mediolateral and vertical acceleration ranges (p < 0.04) in sit-to-stand compared to visually independent older adults. CONCLUSION: The demand for orienting posture to a vertical position during sit-to-stand may differentiate older adults who are more visually dependent-and thus at greater fall risk- from those who are more visually independent. Age-related differences in turning behavior suggest a relationship with fall risk that warrants further investigation.
BACKGROUND: Older adults show greater postural instabilities under misleading visual cues relative to younger adults. We investigated the effects of age-related visual dependence on motor performance under increased attention demands by adding a motor task and visual stimulus to the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test sub-components. METHOD: We designed a cross-sectional quantitative study. Twenty-eight younger (n = 12) and older (n = 16) adults completed the TUG test while wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) that presented a visual stimulus and/or carrying a cup of water. Outcome measures were turning cadence; gait speed; pitch, yaw, and roll peak trunk velocities (PTVs); and acceleration ranges of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit. RESULTS: Wearing the HMD caused significant performance differences in the TUG test tasks due to age and visual dependence, although performance was lower across all groups with the HMD (p < 0.01). Older adults showed lower roll PTV in turning compared to younger adults (p = 0.03). Visually dependent older adults showed smaller mediolateral and vertical acceleration ranges (p < 0.04) in sit-to-stand compared to visually independent older adults. CONCLUSION: The demand for orienting posture to a vertical position during sit-to-stand may differentiate older adults who are more visually dependent-and thus at greater fall risk- from those who are more visually independent. Age-related differences in turning behavior suggest a relationship with fall risk that warrants further investigation.
Authors: Brian Horsak; Mark Simonlehner; Lucas Schöffer; Bernhard Dumphart; Arian Jalaeefar; Matthias Husinsky Journal: Front Bioeng Biotechnol Date: 2021-12-03