ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Dual-task walking is more common in daily life, and more challenging than single-task walking. It is more conducive to find potential gait abnormalities in daily life activities. It is widely used to evaluate the changes in motor performance and gait control when attention is distracted. OBJECTIVE: The three-dimensional gait analysis system was applied to compare the difference of gait characteristics under dual-task walking between healthy young people and elderly people so as to provide reference for preventing the elderly people from falling. METHODS: In the youth group, there were 21 cases aged (24.57±2.27) years old and with the height of (1.64±0.08) m. In the elderly group, there were 25 cases aged (62.72±2.39) years old and with the height of (1.60±0.07) m. The two groups of subjects performed the calculation task of “minus 1 (reciprocal) starting from any number within 100” during level walking. Motion Analysis system and Visual 3D software were applied to collect and analyze the gait data. The differences of gait spatiotemporal and kinetic parameters between the two groups were compared when performing dual-task walking. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Spatiotemporal parameters: Compared with youth group, both stride length [(1.14±0.09) m vs. (1.20±0.07) m, P < 0.05] and right step length [(0.57±0.04) m vs. (0.60±0.04) m, P < 0.01] were smaller in the elderly group. (2) Kinetic parameters: Compared with the youth group, the left second peak hip abduction moment was higher [(0.94±0.1) Nm/kg vs. (0.86±0.16) Nm/kg, P < 0.01]; the left ankle plantar flexor moment was lower [(1.27±0.11) Nm/kg vs. (1.35±0.15) Nm/kg, P < 0.05]; and bilateral ankle valgus muscle moments were lower [(0.31±0.14) Nm/kg vs. (0.45±0.16) Nm/kg, P < 0.01; (0.38±0.15) Nm/kg vs. (0.51±0.14) Nm/kg, P < 0.01] in the elderly group. (3) These results suggest that the walking automation ability of the elderly group was lower than youth group during dual-task walking. Dual-task walking mainly affects the hip and ankle joints of the elderly, which may be related to the challenge of dual-task walking to the elderly so that they could adapt the corresponding compensatory mode to maintain stability. The characteristics of gait changes in the elderly under dual tasks can be considered as a reference for the prevention of falls.