Falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults, with over 14 million older adults reporting falls each year. The most common of these injuries is hip fractures, which are typically only repaired through surgery. These cause a decrease in mobility, loss of independence, and a general reduction in quality of life. Despite this, causes of falls and development of preventative measures are heavily understudied — but a Stevens BME lab is aiming to change this narrative.
With the goal of improving fall mitigation in adults ages 65 and older, Assistant Professor Antonia Zaferiou of the Biomedical Engineering Department led this research in her Musculoskeletal Control and Dynamics Lab. Utilizing force plates and motion tracking devices, this lab is focused on sports biomechanics and preventative and rehabilitative studies. In this specific study, participants wore full-body motion tracking sensors to plot their movements. Their study emphasized turning while walking, an essential task that is risky for older adults. Turns can compose up to half of all steps while walking, but turning can cause great difficulty as it involves balance, coordination, and a change in the center of mass location. The complexity of this movement makes falls more likely in this stage, but the lack of research in this specific area means that exact preventative measures cannot yet be defined.
The lab setup for this study, titled “Older adult frontal plane balance during 90 degree turns while walking,” published in Nature, involved a T-shaped walkway to simulate a grocery store environment. Participants were recorded executing three tasks that increased in difficulty: walking in a straight line, making a pre-planned turn, and making a late-cued turn. For the first task, participants were told to act as if they were walking down the aisle of a familiar grocery store. For the second task, they turned into an aisle to find an item that they knew was there. For the third task, there was a 50% chance of their desired item being in the aisle they would turn into, and they would have to make a quick decision of whether or not to turn down the aisle. Each participant completed multiple trials of each task, and the data were compared within the group and to younger adults performing the same tasks.
In comparing older adults to younger adults, researchers found that the group as a whole utilized walking and turning strategies similar to those of younger adults. All groups generally had more angular momentum and shifts in lateral distance. On the individual level, however, certain adults used strategies not seen in younger adults, such as limiting side-to-side sway. In an attempt to protect themselves, they tend to limit their movement to safer motions. While this result was unexpected, it gives researchers insight into individualized approaches to balance and, therefore, preventative care.
This research is a step in the right direction to improving fall mitigation, individualized therapy, and rehabilitation for older adults. Dr. Zaferiou hopes that this research will encourage preventative medicine rather than rehabilitation after an injury, which would greatly improve mobility and quality of life for older adults.
