Article

The purpose of this study was to determine whether trunk stability while walking
changes when arm swing is deliberately altered in elderly individuals.
Participants included 21 community-dwelling elderly individuals (7 men and 14
women; age, 81.8 +/- 5.0 years). We measured trunk acceleration by using a
wireless miniature sensor unit containing a tri-axial linear accelerometer under
3 walking conditions: normal walking (normal condition), deliberately walking
without any arm swing (no swing condition), and walking with a deliberately
emphasized arm swing (over swing condition). To evaluate trunk stability during
walking, we calculated harmonic ratios (HRs) based on trunk tri-axial
acceleration signals (anteroposterior: AP, vertical: VT, and mediolateral: ML).
HR-AP and HR-VT were not significantly different across the 3 conditions, but
HR-ML in the over swing condition was significantly higher than that in the other
2 conditions by generalized estimating equations (GEE) adjusted for walking speed
(p<0.05). These findings indicate that trunk stability in the ML direction
increased when the elderly individuals walked with a deliberately emphasized arm
swing.
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Langue : ANGLAIS