Article

The vestibular system plays an important role in locomotion. Individuals with
vestibular pathology present with gait abnormalities, which may increase their
fall frequency. Backward walking (BW) has been suggested as a predictor of falls
in other patient populations; however it has not been studied in individuals with
dizziness. Our aims were: (1) to investigate the differences in forward walking
(FW) and BW both between and within 3 groups: Healthy controls, individuals with
dizziness and vestibular pathology, and individuals with dizziness without
vestibular pathology, (2) describe differences in FW and BW between individuals
that have fallen and those that have not. We studied 28 healthy controls (mean
53.8 +/- 17 years), 21 individuals with pathophysiology of the vestibular system
(mean 68.5 +/- 13 years), and 18 individuals without a vestibular cause for their
dizziness (mean 67.4 +/- 17 years). Subjects performed 2 FW and 2 BW trials over
the GAITRite walkway. Data on history of falls in the preceding year were
collected. We found BW was different to FW within each group. When comparing
between groups and correcting for age and gender, only BW velocity (beta=-11.390,
p=0.019), cadence (beta=-8.471, p=0.021), step time (beta=0.067, p=0.007) and
stride time (beta=0.137, p=0.005) were significantly affected by having
dizziness, with no differences in FW characteristics. There were no differences
between FW and BW between fallers and non-fallers. BW appears to be a better
biomarker than FW for identifying individuals with symptoms of dizziness; though
it does not appear to characterize those who fall.
CI - Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS