Mechanisms of Fall Resistance to Diverse Slipping Conditions

University of Nebraska

Status: Completed

Conditions: Slipping and Falls

Treatments: Other: Slips on Slopes; Other: Slips on Turns

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03758040

861-18

Details and patient eligibility

About

Using movement analysis, the investigators will determine the relationships between diverse slip conditions, reactive responses to slips from those conditions, and slip vulnerability across the gait cycle to generate new data that may guide future interventions.

Full description

Recent evidence suggests most slip-related falls in daily life happen in diverse slipping conditions where the ground is not level, or the person is turning or changing direction. While slips that occur during straight walking on level ground and the responses to those slips are relatively well understood, very little is known about slips that occur while walking on slopes or curved paths and which reactive responses are effective to prevent falls in such conditions. This limits the ability of clinicians to incorporate a diverse range of slipping experiences into fall prevention interventions. Understanding how reactive responses and slip vulnerability depend on diverse slip conditions may guide future interventions that promote a more general fall resistance to the broader range of slips we encounter in the real environment. Thus, the objective of this research project is to determine the impact of turns and slopes on reactive movements and fall vulnerability. The aims of this study are (1) to determine the effects of path curvature on reactive movements and slip vulnerability at different times in the gait cycle, and (2) to determine the effects of ground slope on reactive movements and slip vulnerability at difference times in the gait cycle. The investigators hypothesize that diverse slipping conditions will change the reactive responses involving protective stepping and arm swing. In addition, the investigators hypothesize that the distinct dynamics of turns and slopes produce maximum vulnerability to slips at different times in the gait cycle compared to slips during straight walking on level ground. To evaluate these aims, the investigators will administer slip perturbations on slopes that vary in both magnitude and direction, on curved paths that vary in curvature, and with slip onset that varies across early, middle, and late stance. Understanding the relationships between diverse slipping conditions, reactive responses, slip severity and fall vulnerability may guide future research and training interventions towards more comprehensive fall resistance ability.

Enrollment: 42 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 19 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 19-35

Exclusion criteria

• Uncontrolled hypertension
• Peripheral arterial disease
• Knee osteoarthritis
• Vertigo
• Meniere's disease
• Chronic dizziness
• History of back or lower extremity injury
• Surgery that affects mobility
• Neurological disease that limits the ability to walk

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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42 participants in 2 patient groups

Slips on Turns

Experimental group

Description:

Slips administered during walking on a curved paths of radii 1.0, or 2.0 meters in early, middle or late stance to the inside or outside foot.

Treatment:

Other: Slips on Turns

Slips on Slopes

Experimental group

Description:

Slips administered during walking on sloped ground of 5.0 or 10.0 degrees mediolaterally or anteroposteriorly, or flat ground, in early middle or late stance. For mediolateral slopes, slips will be administered to the uphill or downhill foot.

Treatment:

Other: Slips on Slopes