Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel; School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Gait Posture. 2022 Jul;96:87-92. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.05.009. Epub 2022 May 7.
Gait pattern coordination is affected by several factors (e.g., neurodegeneration), while aging is known to have a significant negative impact. Various gait parameters, such as gait asymmetry (GA) and stride time coefficient of variation (CV), are widely used in both research and clinical settings in order to evaluate human locomotion. Another parameter is the phase coordination index (PCI), which specifically assesses bilateral coordination of gait (BCG), by quantifying the consistency and accuracy of the anti-phased stepping pattern.
In this study we hypothesized that there is a steady deterioration in the bilateral coordination of walking through ageing, and in gait rhythmicity, which would be evident by an increase in the values of the coordination parameters which are examined.
We analyzed gait cycles of 66 healthy participants in ages between 40 and 85 years which were divided into five age groups (40-44; 45-54; 55-64; 75 +). The participants performed corridor walking (i.e., back and forth) wearing a computerized motion sensor-based gait analysis system. PCI, CV and GA parameters were calculated for the straight-line walking segments.
PCI values remained relatively stable between the ages of 40-75 (3.16 ± 1.11%), while in the age group of 75 + years old we observed a significant increase (i.e., deterioration in BCG) in PCI values (5.68 ± 2.01%, p < 0.047). Same pattern was seen for the CV parameter. However, GA was not statistically significantly different between all age groups.
It appears that PCI and CV are more sensitive measures to detect changes in gait through the aging process. The results suggest that potential screening to detect salient gait deterioration should start from the age of 70. On the other hand, GA may be used to identify neurological impairments if found increased at any age.
步态协调受到多种因素的影响（例如，神经退行性变），而衰老被认为具有显著的负面影响。在研究和临床环境中，广泛使用各种步态参数，例如步态不对称（GA）和步长时间变异系数（CV），以评估人类的运动功能。另一个参数是相位协调指数（PCI），它通过量化反相步幅模式的一致性和准确性，专门评估步态的双侧协调（BCG）。
本研究假设随着年龄的增长，步行的双侧协调和步态节律性会逐渐恶化，这将通过所检查的协调参数值的增加而显现出来。
我们分析了 66 名健康参与者的步态周期，他们的年龄在 40 岁至 85 岁之间，分为五个年龄组（40-44 岁；45-54 岁；55-64 岁；75 岁以上）。参与者穿着基于计算机的运动传感器步态分析系统在走廊上行走（即来回走）。为直线行走段计算了 PCI、CV 和 GA 参数。
在 40-75 岁之间，PCI 值相对稳定（3.16±1.11%），而在 75 岁以上的年龄组中，我们观察到 PCI 值显著增加（即 BCG 恶化）（5.68±2.01%，p<0.047）。CV 参数也呈现出相同的模式。然而，GA 在所有年龄组之间没有统计学上的显著差异。
似乎 PCI 和 CV 是更敏感的指标，可以检测到衰老过程中步态的变化。研究结果表明，从 70 岁开始，应该进行潜在的筛查以检测明显的步态恶化。另一方面，如果在任何年龄发现 GA 增加，则可以使用 GA 来识别神经功能障碍。
