Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada.
Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS), Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada.
Exp Gerontol. 2014 Feb;50:26-33. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2013.11.007. Epub 2013 Nov 27.
Stair descent is a frequent daily activity that poses great risks for injury due to falling. Very little is understood about the attentional demands of stair descent and their changes with aging. The present study compared combined locomotor and cognitive functioning during different phases of stair descent between healthy young and older individuals.
Sixteen young and sixteen healthy older subjects walked down a 5-step staircase, performing a simultaneous visual Stroop task (i.e., a dual task) during the approach, transition or steady-state descent phases in some trials. Three dimensional kinematics of trunk and foot motion were recorded along with the accuracy and dual task costs (DTCs) for responses to the Stroop stimuli.
Dual tasking influenced both gait and cognitive performance for all subjects, and older adults generally walked slower with higher foot clearances and had greater DTCs. Specific age differences were found at stair transition where older adults showed more attentional effects.
Healthy, active older adults showed changes to attention and planning due to normal aging specifically associated with a crucial point of fall risk during stair descent.
下楼梯是一项日常高频活动，由于跌倒存在较大受伤风险。目前对于下楼梯的注意力需求以及其随年龄变化的情况了解甚少。本研究比较了健康的年轻个体和老年个体在下楼梯不同阶段的运动和认知功能的综合表现。
16 名年轻个体和 16 名健康老年个体走下 5 级楼梯，在一些试验中，分别在接近、过渡或稳定下降阶段进行同时视觉斯特鲁普任务（即双重任务）。记录躯干和脚部运动的三维运动学，以及对斯特鲁普刺激的反应的准确性和双重任务成本（DTC）。
双重任务对所有个体的步态和认知表现都有影响，老年人通常走得更慢，脚部间隙更大，DTC 更高。在楼梯过渡阶段，老年人出现了更多的注意力效应，存在特定的年龄差异。
健康、活跃的老年人由于正常衰老，在注意力和计划方面发生了变化，这与下楼梯时跌倒风险的关键节点特别相关。
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