Effects of obstacle height on the control of the body center of mass motion during obstructed gait

Abstract

Tripping over obstacles has been reported as one of the most frequent causes of falls in the elderly. Since a successful crossing requires the stability of the body through the control of the motion of the body center of mass (COM), the purpose of this study was to investigate the COM motion when crossing obstacles of different heights. Ten young healthy adults walked and crossed obstacles of heights of 10%, 20% and 30% of their leg lengths in a gait laboratory. The COM motions were calculated using data measured from a motion analysis system. It was found that vertical motions of the COM, including position, velocity and acceleration, were all modulated to successfully cross obstacles of different height. All acceleration components of the COM were changed with increased obstacle height, suggesting that different forces from muscle contractions were needed to control COM stability when facing different obstacle heights. These findings may help shed light on further investigation of the motor control strategies of the central nervous system for obstacle crossing and serve as baseline data in the evaluation of the elderly and patients.