Dallaway Alexander, Duncan Michael, Griffen Corbin, Renshaw Derek, Tallis Jason, Hattersley John
School of Health and Society, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Millennium City Building, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY, UK.
Coventry NIHR CRF Human Metabolism Research Unit, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Clifford Bridge Rd, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK.
Geriatrics (Basel). 2024 Aug 23;9(5):108. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics9050108.
Age-related declines in the musculoskeletal system may place additional demands on the lumbar spine during everyday activities such as walking. This study aimed to investigate age-related differences in the functional demand (FD) of walking on the lumbar spine in older and younger adults. A motion analysis system with integrated force plates was used to acquire kinematic and kinetic data on 12 older (67.3 ± 6.0 years) and 12 younger (24.7 ± 3.1 years) healthy men during walking at a self-selected speed along a 10 m walkway. Isokinetic dynamometry was used to acquire the maximal joint moment capacity of the lumbar spine. The FD of the lumbar spine was calculated as the muscle moment during key phases of the gait cycle (GC) relative to the maximum moment capacity of the lumbar spine. The difference in FD between age groups was not significant ( = 0.07) and there were no significant differences between the young group (YG) and older group (OG) for any individual phase in the GC. Despite the lack of statistical significance, the results indicate that a practical difference may exist, as walking was approximately 20% more functionally demanding on the lumbar spine in the OG compared to the YG. Therefore, older adults may employ modified gait strategies to reduce mechanical load whilst walking to fall within the limits of their maximal force-producing capacity in the lumbar spine, which may have implications for injury risk.
肌肉骨骼系统的年龄相关性衰退可能会在日常活动（如行走）中给腰椎带来额外负担。本研究旨在调查老年人和年轻人在行走时腰椎功能需求（FD）的年龄差异。使用带有集成测力板的运动分析系统，在12名年龄较大（67.3±6.0岁）和12名年龄较小（24.7±3.1岁）的健康男性以自选速度沿10米走道行走时获取运动学和动力学数据。采用等速测力法获取腰椎的最大关节力矩能力。腰椎的功能需求计算为步态周期（GC）关键阶段的肌肉力矩相对于腰椎最大力矩能力。年龄组之间的功能需求差异不显著（=0.07），并且在步态周期的任何单个阶段，年轻组（YG）和老年组（OG）之间也没有显著差异。尽管缺乏统计学意义，但结果表明可能存在实际差异，因为与年轻组相比，老年组行走时腰椎的功能需求大约高20%。因此，老年人可能会采用改良的步态策略，在行走时减少机械负荷，使其落在腰椎最大力量产生能力的范围内，这可能对受伤风险有影响。
