Smith Beth A, Kubo Masayoshi, Ulrich Beverly D
Balance Disorders Laboratory, Departments of Neurology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97006, USA.
Curr Gerontol Geriatr Res. 2012;2012:782671. doi: 10.1155/2012/782671. Epub 2012 May 30.
The combined effects of ligamentous laxity, hypotonia, and decrements associated with aging lead to stability-enhancing foot placement adaptations during routine overground walking at a younger age in adults with Down syndrome (DS) compared to their peers with typical development (TD). Our purpose here was to examine real-time adaptations in older adults with DS by testing their responses to walking on a treadmill at their preferred speed and at speeds slower and faster than preferred. We found that older adults with DS were able to adapt their gait to slower and faster than preferred treadmill speeds; however, they maintained their stability-enhancing foot placements at all speeds compared to their peers with TD. All adults adapted their gait patterns similarly in response to faster and slower than preferred treadmill-walking speeds. They increased stride frequency and stride length, maintained step width, and decreased percent stance as treadmill speed increased. Older adults with DS, however, adjusted their stride frequencies significantly less than their peers with TD. Our results show that older adults with DS have the capacity to adapt their gait parameters in response to different walking speeds while also supporting the need for intervention to increase gait stability.
与典型发育（TD）的同龄人相比，韧带松弛、肌张力减退以及与衰老相关的机能衰退共同作用，导致唐氏综合征（DS）成年人在年轻时日常地面行走过程中出现增强稳定性的足部放置适应性变化。我们在此的目的是，通过测试老年DS成年人在跑步机上以其偏好速度、低于偏好速度和高于偏好速度行走时的反应，来研究他们的实时适应性变化。我们发现，老年DS成年人能够使其步态适应跑步机低于和高于偏好速度的情况；然而，与TD同龄人相比，他们在所有速度下都保持着增强稳定性的足部放置方式。所有成年人在跑步机行走速度高于和低于偏好速度时，其步态模式的适应性变化相似。随着跑步机速度增加，他们会提高步频和步长，保持步幅宽度，并减少站立时间百分比。然而，老年DS成年人步频的调整幅度明显小于TD同龄人。我们的结果表明，老年DS成年人有能力根据不同行走速度调整其步态参数，同时也支持进行干预以提高步态稳定性的必要性。
