@article{ref1,
title="Non-MTC gait cycles: an adaptive toe trajectory control strategy in older adults",
journal="Gait and posture",
year="2016",
author="Santhiranayagam, Braveena K. and Sparrow, W. A. and Lai, Daniel T. H. and Begg, Rezaul K.",
volume="53",
number="",
pages="73-79",
abstract="Minimum-toe-clearance (MTC) above the walking surface is a critical representation of toe-trajectory control due to its association with tripping risk. Not all gait cycles exhibit a clearly defined MTC within the swing phase but there have been few previous accounts of the biomechanical characteristics of non-MTC gait cycles. The present report investigated the within-subject non-MTC gait cycle characteristics of 15 older adults (mean 73.1 years) and 15 young controls (mean 26.1 years). Participants performed the following tasks on a motorized treadmill: preferred speed walking, dual task walking (carrying a glass of water) and a dual-task speed-matched control. Toe position-time coordinates were acquired using a 3 dimensional motion capture system. When MTC was present, toe height at MTC (MTCheight) was extracted. The proportion of non-MTC gait cycles was computed for the age groups and individuals. For non-MTC gait cycles an 'indicative' toe height at the individual's average swing phase time (MTCtime) for observed MTC cycles was averaged across multiple non-MTC gait cycles. In preferred-speed walking Young demonstrated 2.9% non-MTC gait cycles and Older 18.7%. In constrained walking conditions both groups increased non-MTC gait cycles and some older adults revealed over 90%, confirming non-MTC gait cycles as an ageing-related phenomenon in lower limb trajectory control. For all participants median indicative toe-height on non-MTC gait cycles was greater than median MTCheight. This result suggests that eliminating the biomechanically hazardous MTC event by adopting more of the higher-clearance non-MTC gait cycles, is adaptive in reducing the likelihood of toe-ground contact.<br><br>Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0966-6362",
doi="10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.11.044",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.11.044"
}