TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2024//
TI  - Females present reduced minimum toe clearance during walking as compared to males in active older adults
JO  - Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences
A1  - Faria, Aurélio
A1  - Sousa, Tiago
A1  - Vaz, João R.
A1  - Gabriel, Ronaldo
A1  - Gama, Jorge
A1  - Stergiou, Nick
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 1079-5006
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glae109
ID  - ref1
ER  -