Age related changes of arm movements in dual taskcondition on different walking environment

• Main Authors: Yao-Jheng Hsieh, 謝耀徵
• Other Authors: Ing-Shiou Hwang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/03156652328874619615

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 物理治療研究所 === 96 === Background and purpose: Most of the previous studies investigated dual task effects on gait performance. Few of them focused on changes of arm movements. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether dual task paradigm would influence upper extremity movement during walking. Furthermore, we would like to examine the effect of different walking surfaces on the dual task gait. Effect of age and gender on dual task performance was also investigated. Methods: Fifteen healthy young adults and 15 older adults were included in this study. All participants were asked to perform both walking task alone (single-task condition) and in combination with cognitive task while walking (dual-task condition). In the single task condition, each subject was asked to walk on soft foam and hard floor separately. In the dual task condition, subjects were asked to perform Stroop test and digit span test while walking. Four task conditions (1single task, 3dual task) x two floor conditions were encountered. Results: Both groups had greater elbow and trunk movement in the sagittal plane under the dual task condition than the single task condition (p<0.05). All subjects had greater upper extremity and upper body movement on the soft floor than on the hard floor condition (all p<0.05). Furthermore, subjects also had faster pelvis movement from peak to peak and reached peak upper extremity movement later on the soft floor than hard floor (p<0.05). Among gender, the older females had smaller and later upper extremity movement than the older males (p<0.05). The opposite was true for the young adults (all p<0.001). Conclusion: When two tasks were performed together, attention demand may exceed the total capacity of the brain. One or both task performances might deteriorate in the dual task condition. When walking on the soft floor, somatosensory system was disturbed. Therefore, subjects might need greater upper extremity and upper body movements to compensate for this situation. Compared with the older males, the older females may use a more conservative strategy in different walking conditions.