The change of gait parameters during walking at different percentage of preferred walking speed for healthy adults aged 20–60 years

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.09.013

Gait & Posture

Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 131-135

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.09.013 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of age, gender and walking speed on the gait performance during walking at a range of percentage of preferred walking speed (PPWS). The subjects were aged from 20 to 60 years and both genders were equally represented. A nested-factorial analysis of variance was employed. The independent variables include walking speed (80%, 100%, 120%, and 140% PPWS), age (young, middle, and older groups) and gender. The response measures include lower limb joint motion, vertical ground reaction force (VGRF), muscle electromyography (EMG), heart rate, and perceived exertion of whole body and local areas.

The results show that different age and gender groups had similar gait performance on most of the joint motions, HR, as well as the perceived exertions while walking at a range of PPWS. In addition, these performance generally increased with the increasing walking speed and the trend becomes more obvious when the speed was higher than 120% PWS. Age and gender differences have been found in VGRFs and muscle EMG. Females exhibited significantly higher VGRF in the heel-strike and toe-off stages, as well as higher tibialis anterior muscle activity. Older subjects had significantly higher rectus femoris muscle activity than younger adults. Besides, the interaction between gender and walking speed was significant on VGRF in the toe-off stage. Further discussions are addressed.

Introduction

A successful locomotion needs the integration of different physiological systems, and therefore many factors have influence on gait performance. Previous studies indicated that slower walking speed in elderly subjects may be associated with the decreased joint movements and joint kinetics [1], [2], biomechanical changes [3], and choosing “cautious” gait strategy [4]. The intrinsic characteristics between genders can influence the gait performance as well, such as skeletal alignment, muscle strength, and body size. The above information reveals that both physical and psychological factors can contribute to the individual differences in gait performance among different age and gender groups. These individual differences should not be ignored when evaluating the walking speed effect on gait performance.

Recent researches proposed the use of percentage of preferred walking speed (PPWS) to specify walking speed, because it offers the advantages of allowing comparisons between speeds, and simultaneously allowing the subjects to act their own control that can successfully normalize the gait parameters for age and physical factors [5], [6]. Given that PPWS is an effective method to normalize the gait parameters for age and physical factors, it is hypothesized that when subjects walking at a range of their PPWS, their gait pattern change should be similar. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate whether subjects of different age and gender groups will have the similar gait patterns during walking at a range of PPWS.

Several parameters are used to characterize the gait performance, such as joint motion, muscle electromyography (EMG), ground reaction force (GRF), heart rate (HR), and perceived exertion. Previous studies reported that some gait performance measurements are correlated to the physiological and psychophysical measures [7], [8], [9]. For example, Noble et al. [7] indicated that the perceived exertion generally follows HR response, and local muscular discomfort at higher walking speed was considered as the factor responsible for the earlier perceptual intersection. Anderson and Pandy [8] reported that the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles made the largest contribution to support accounting for 50–95% of the VGRFs generated in stance. Moreover, Takahashi et al. [9] demonstrated that VGRF is correlated with many gait parameters and functional performance. However, reports regarding the relationship between these parameters when evaluating the effects of age, gender and walking speed on gait performance are scarce. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of age, gender and walking speed on different gait performance measures including joint motion, GRF, EMG, HR, and perceived exertion during walking at different PPWS.

Section snippets

Subjects

Thirty healthy males and females aged between 20 and 60 years participated in this study. The subjects were divided into three age groups: young group (younger than 30 years), middle group (31–45 years), and older group (older than 45 years). These subjects were volunteers from students and staffs in a university, and all participants signed a written informed consent form. None of the subjects suffered from any neurological or musculoskeletal disorders.

Experimental design

A nested-factorial analysis of variance

Preferred walking speed

The means of the PWS and some reference information are summarized in Table 1. The age effect on PWS was significant (p < 0.05), and the results of Duncan's post-hoc testings indicate that the young (114.0 cm/s) and middle (111.8 cm/s) age groups had significantly higher PWS than the older group (94.7 cm/s) for both genders. In addition, the PWS was correlated significantly with age (r = −0.65, p < 0.01) and cadence (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), but no significant correlation with gender, height, BMI, and the lower

Age effect

Our findings show that the PWS decrease with the increase of age for both genders. Many previous studies indicated that both physical and psychological factors contributed to the slower PWS for elderly subjects [1], [2], [3], [4]. For the age 20–60 years adults, our results indicate that the age effect was not significant on joint motion, VGRF, HR, as well as the RPE scores in whole body and nine local areas, except for muscle EMG. Older group had significantly higher muscle activity in RF than

References (14)

D.C. Kerrigan et al.
Kinetic alterations independent of speed in elderly fallers
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(2000)
D.C. Kerrigan et al.
Reduced hip extension during walking: healthy elderly and fallers versus young adults
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(2001)
F.C. Anderson et al.
Individual muscle contributions to support in normal walking
Gait Posture
(2003)
S.C. White et al.
Relation of vertical ground reaction forces to walking speed
Gait Posture
(1996)
J.B. Dingwell et al.
Kinematic variability and local dynamic stability of upper body motions when walking at different speeds
J Biomech
(2006)
M.C. Chiu et al.
The effect of gait speed and gender on perceived exertion, muscle activity, joint motion of lower extremity, ground reaction force and heart rate during normal walking
Gait Posture
(2007)
J.L. Lelas et al.
Predicting peak kinematic and kinetic parameters from gait speed
Gait Posture
(2003)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (135)

On the relation between gait speed and gait cycle duration for walking on even ground
2024, Journal of Biomechanics
Gait models and reference motions are essential for the objective assessment of walking patterns and therapy progress, as well as research in the field of wearable robotics and rehabilitation devices in general. A human can achieve a desired gait speed by adjusting stride length and/or stride frequency. It is hypothesized that sex, age, and physique of a person have a significant influence on the combination of these parameters. A mathematical description of the relation between gait speed and its determinants is presented in the form of a parameterized analytic function. Based on the statistical significance of the parameters, three models are derived. The first two models are valid for slow to fast walking, which is defined as the interval of approximately 0.6–2.0 m s⁻¹, assuming a linear relation of gait speed and stride length, and a non-linear relation of gait speed and stride duration, respectively. The third model is valid for a defined range of walking speed centered at a certain (preferred or spontaneous) gait speed. The latter assumes a constant walk ratio, i.e. the ratio between step or stride length and step or stride frequency, and is recommended for walking at a speed of 1.0–1.6 m s⁻¹. On the basis of a large pool of gait datasets, regression coefficients with significance for age and/or body mass index are identified. The presented models allow to estimate the gait cycle duration based on gait speed, sex, age and body mass index of healthy persons walking on even ground.
Gait analysis, trunk movements, and electromyographic patterns after minimally invasive spine surgery for lumbar instability: An observational prospective study
2024, World Neurosurgery: X
The aim of the present study was to investigate trunk kinematics and spine muscle activation during walking after minimally invasive surgery in patients with L4-L5 degenerative spondylolisthesis suffering from lumbar instability (LI).
Eleven patients suffering from LI and 13 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. Trunk kinematics and spine muscle activation patterns during walking were collected. Maximal trunk ranges of motion were also recorded from standing position. Assessments were performed pre-operatively (T0), 1 month (T1) and 3 months (T2) after MIS.
We found significant improvement in spine muscle activation during walking at T2 compared to T0, mainly involving right/left symmetry at the operated level (L4-L5) and up-down synchronization from L3 to S1. Significant improvements in trunk rotation nearing to the HC group during walking were also found at T2 after surgery, though no changes were observed in the maximal range of motion of the trunk during standing. Furthermore, trunk rotation improvement correlated with a lower grade of residual disability.
Our findings indicate that trunk rotation improves after surgery, and impaired aspects of spine muscle activation can be improved with surgery. These biomechanical parameters could represent novel tools for monitoring the effect of surgery in LI and preventing impaired spine mobility and muscle activation.
Gait characteristics in patients with distal radius fracture using an in-shoe inertial measurement system at various gait speeds
2024, Gait and Posture
Distal radius fractures (DRF) commonly occur in early postmenopausal females as the first fragility fracture. Although the incidence of DRF in this set of patients may be related to a lower ability to control their balance and gait, the detailed gait characteristics of DRF patients have not been examined.
Is it possible to identify the physical and gait features of DRF patients using in-shoe inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors at various gait speeds and to develop a machine learning (ML) algorithm to estimate patients with DRF using gait?
In this cross-sectional case control study, we recruited 28 postmenopausal females with DRF as their first fragility fracture and 32 age-matched females without a history of fragility fractures. The participants underwent several physical and gait tests. In the gait performance test, the participants walked 16 m with the in-shoe IMU sensor at slower, preferred, and faster speeds. The gait parameters were calculated by the IMU, and we applied the ML technique using the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm to predict the presence of DRF.
The fracture group showed lower hand grip strength and lower ability to change gait speed. The difference in gait parameters was mainly observed at faster speeds. The amplitude of the change in the parameters was small in the fracture group. The XGBoost model demonstrated reasonable accuracy in predicting DRFs (area under the curve: 0.740), and the most relevant variable was the stance time at a faster speed.
Gait analysis using in-shoe IMU sensors at different speeds is useful for evaluating the characteristics of DRFs. The obtained gait parameters allow the prediction of fractures using the XGBoost algorithm.
Knee kinetics and the medial femoral cartilage cross-sectional area response to loading in indviduals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
2023, Clinical Biomechanics
Ultrasonography is capable of detecting morphological changes in femoral articular cartilage cross-sectional area in response to an acute bout of walking; yet, the response of femoral cartilage cross-sectional area varies between individuals. It is hypothesized that differences in joint kinetics may influence the response of cartilage to a standardized walking protocol. Therefore, the study purpose was to compare internal knee abduction and extension moments between individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction who demonstrate an acute increase, decrease, or unchanged medial femoral cross-sectional area response following 3000 steps.
The medial femoral cartilage in the anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed limb was assessed with ultrasonography before and immediately following 3000 steps of treadmill walking. Knee joint moments were calculated in the anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed limb and compared between groups throughout the stance phase of gait using linear regression and functional, mixed effects waveform analyses.
No associations between peak knee joint moments and the cross-sectional area response were observed. The group that demonstrated an acute cross-sectional area increase exhibited 1) lower knee abduction moments in early stance in comparison to the group that exhibited a decreased cross-sectional area response; and 2) greater knee extension moments in early stance in comparison to the group with an unchanged cross-sectional area response.
The propensity of femoral cartilage to acutely increase cross-sectional area in response to walking is consistent with less-dynamic knee abduction and knee extension moment profiles.
Tolerable degree of muscle sacrifice when harvesting a vastus lateralis or myocutaneous anterolateral thigh flap
2023, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery
The myocutaneous anterolateral thigh (ALT) and vastus lateralis (VL) flaps include a large muscle mass and a sufficient vascular pedicle, and they have been used for decades to reconstruct traumatic and acquired defects of the head and neck and extremities. In spite of these benefits, musculoskeletal dysfunction was reported in nearly 1 out of 20 patients at follow-up. It is unclear whether the recently proposed muscle-sparing flap-raising approach could preserve VL muscle function and whether patients at increased risk could benefit from such an approach. Therefore, we performed a predictive dynamic gait simulation based on a biological motion model with gradual weakening of the VL during a self-selected and fast walking speed to determine the compensable degree of VL muscle reduction. Muscle force, joint angle, and joint moment were measured. Our study showed that VL muscle reduction could be compensated up to a certain degree, which could explain the observed incidence of musculoskeletal dysfunction. In elderly or fragile patients, the VL muscle should not be reduced by 50% or more, which could be achieved by muscle-sparing flap-raising of the superficial partition only. In young or athletic patients, a VL muscle reduction of 10%, which corresponds to a muscle cuff, has no relevant effect. Yet, a reduction of more than 30% leads to relevant weakening of the quadriceps. Therefore, in this patient population with the need for a large portion of muscle, alternative flaps should be considered. This study can serve as the first basis for further investigations of human locomotion after flap-raising.
The range of visual detection of ground-level cues during distracted walking: Effect of cue contrast and walking speed
2022, Accident Analysis and Prevention
Walking while distracted by a smartphone has been a major safety concern for pedestrians. Visual and cognitive attention paid to the smartphone while walking with the head tilted downward would affect the ability to perceive walkway hazards and elevate risks for pedestrian accidents associated with physical contact with obstacles. A laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of detecting ground-level visual cues during texting while walking. Forty young smartphone users performed walking trials at faster, preferred, and slower speeds for the dual-task walking on a treadmill and detected approaching cues of three contrast levels. Detection distance was quantified from the location of cue detection to the participants to assess the effects of walking speed and cue contrast on detection performance. Results show that detection distance varied from 1.7 m to 2.9 m for Low to High contrast cues and from 2.3 m to 2.5 m for Slower to Faster walking speeds, and the effects of contrast and speed were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Study findings suggest that higher contrast fixtures or in-ground signals and slower walking would help smartphone users perceive walkway hazards and in-ground safety signals earlier during their distracted walking.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

The change of gait parameters during walking at different percentage of preferred walking speed for healthy adults aged 20–60 years

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Subjects

Experimental design

Preferred walking speed

Age effect

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Gait Posture

Gait Posture

J Biomech

Gait Posture

Gait Posture