Abstract
The analysis of the mechanism of fall avoidance motion is required to prevent fall-related injuries. To investigate the factors that affect fall avoidance motion, tripping was induced among 10 healthy male subjects during treadmill walking at gait speeds of 3.5 and 4.0 km/h. The posture of the subjects and ground reaction force of the recovery steps were recorded using a motion capture system and force plate to analyze the effect of gait speed on recovery motion. The gait parameters of the recovery steps were calculated and compared between gait speeds. Principal component analysis was performed to identify the parameters that represent the recovery motion and the magnitude of the first and second recovery steps, and the balance of recovery steps were extracted as defining characteristics. Of the 18 gait parameters, such as step time, five differed depending on gait speeds. However, the other gait parameters and all four principal components did not differ significantly with respect to gait speeds. Furthermore, the distribution of principal components and gait parameters across subjects and gait speeds suggested that the variability between trials was greater than the effect of gait speed and individual characteristics on recovery motion.
Highlights
Falls in the daily living environment and workplace are hazardous for the elderly and laborers [1]
This study investigated the effect of gait speed on recovery and fall avoidance motion parameters using a treadmill-based tripping experiment
The tripping bar caused the actual tripping, implying that the swing foot hit the obstacle on the treadmill
Summary
Falls in the daily living environment and workplace are hazardous for the elderly and laborers [1]. Tripping when walking is a common cause of falls [2], and the recovery motions performed by an individual after tripping have been investigated for many years. The elevating strategy is regarded as the motion where humans overcome an obstacle by lifting the tripped leg. The lowering strategy is the motion where humans place the tripped leg behind the obstacle and move the opposite leg forward. A “delayed lowering” strategy is a mixture of the recovery strategies described above [4]. The selection of these strategies is largely determined by the gait phase in progress when tripping occurs [4,5]
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