Analysis of head and body movements of elderly people during locomotion.

In order to elucidate the effect of aging on head and limb motions, 10 young and 8 elderly normal subjects were studied kinesiologically during i) walking, ii) stepping, and iii) hopping, with their eyes open or closed. For this study, a 16-mm high-speed cinecamera and accelerometers were used. Analysis of head movements showed that pitch rotation seemed to counteract the translational movement in the sagittal plane. Although this phenomenon was observed in both the young and elderly groups, the mean pitch position of the head, as measured by the cantho-meatal line relative to the horizontal line, was larger for the elderly group, while head acceleration of elderly people showed a higher frequency in the power spectrum. With eyes closed, the head tended to be tilted downward.