@article{ref1,
title="Females present reduced minimum toe clearance during walking as compared to males in active older adults",
journal="Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences",
year="2024",
author="Faria, Aurélio and Sousa, Tiago and Vaz, João R. and Gabriel, Ronaldo and Gama, Jorge and Stergiou, Nick",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Physical decline due to aging has been associated with the risk of falls. Minimum toe clearance (MTC) is a gait parameter that might play a role in the mechanism of tripping and falling. However, it is unclear if there are any sex-related effects regarding MTC as people age. The present study investigated if there are sex-related differences in MTC in older active adults. <br><br>METHODS: Twenty-three females and 23 males (F: 65.5 ± 4.8 yrs; M: 61.9 ± 5.2 yrs) walked on a treadmill at a preferred walking speed, while kinematic data were obtained at a sampling frequency of 100 Hz and up-sampled to 120 and 240Hz. MTC was calculated from the kinematics data and evaluated concerning its magnitude (i.e., MTC and MTC/leg length), the time between left/right MTC (i.e., T-MTC), amount of variability (i.e., CV and CVm), and temporal structure of variability i.e., the complexity of the time series (i.e., MTC α, T-MTC α). <br><br>RESULTS: No sex effects were found for MTC/leg length, for the amount of variability (i.e., CV and CVm), and for the complexity of the time series (MTC α, T-MTC α). However, females exhibited significantly lower MTC and T-MTC after adjusting for walking speed, mass, and age as covariates. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The reduced MTC in females suggests a potential sex-related disparity in the risk of tripping and falling among active older adults.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1079-5006",
doi="10.1093/gerona/glae109",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glae109"
}