Article

Minimum foot clearance (MFC) is the minimum vertical distance between the lowest
point of the foot of the swing leg and the walking surface during the swing phase
of the gait cycle. MFC is a gait variable that is linked to the mechanism of a
trip because reduced MFC for a given step during walking increases the
susceptibility to tripping on an unseen obstacle or due to undetected changes in
surface height. Given that tripping is a common cause of falls in older persons,
this review was undertaken to determine whether ageing and/or history of falls in
older adults influences MFC characteristics during level walking. Studies that
assessed MFC characteristics including measures of central tendency (mean and/or
median), variability (linear and non-linear measures) and shape (skewness,
kurtosis) of the MFC distribution were included in the review. The final yield
from a search of seven electronic research databases was 12 unique articles that
met all the inclusion criteria. Ageing does not appear to alter measures of
central tendency or shape of the MFC distribution. However greater MFC
variability was observed in older compared to younger adults and older fallers
compared to older non-fallers in the majority of studies. Greater MFC variability
may contribute to increased risk of trips and associated falls in older compared
to young adults and older fallers compared to older non-fallers.
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Langue : ANGLAIS