Choice Stepping Response and Transfer Times: Effects of Age, Fall Risk, and Secondary Tasks

Background. Deterioration with age of physiological components of balance control increases fall risk. Avoiding a fall can also require higher level cognitive processing to select correct motor and stepping responses. Here we investigate how a competing cognitive task and an obstacle to stepping aff...

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Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2007-05, Vol.62 (5), p.537-542
Main Authors: St George, Rebecca J., Fitzpatrick, Richard C., Rogers, Mark W., Lord, Stephen R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Accidental Falls - prevention & control
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging - physiology
Analysis of Variance
Attention - physiology
Chi-Square Distribution
Female
Humans
Legs
Male
Medical research
Middle Aged
Older people
Postural Balance - physiology
Risk assessment
Risk Factors
Standard deviation
Statistics, Nonparametric
Task Performance and Analysis
Time Factors
Walking - physiology
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Summary:Background. Deterioration with age of physiological components of balance control increases fall risk. Avoiding a fall can also require higher level cognitive processing to select correct motor and stepping responses. Here we investigate how a competing cognitive task and an obstacle to stepping affect the initiation and execution phases of choice stepping reaction times in young and older people. Methods. Three groups were studied: young persons (YOUNG: 23–40 years, n = 20), older persons with a low risk of falls (OLR: 75–86 years, n = 18), and older persons with a high risk of falls (OHR: 78–88 years, n = 22). Four conditions were examined: choice stepping, choice stepping + obstacle, choice stepping + working memory task, and choice stepping + working memory task + obstacle. Step response and transfer times were measured for each condition, in addition to hesitant stepping, contacts with the obstacle and errors made in the memory test. Results. Older participant groups had significantly longer response and transfer times than the young group had, and the OHR group had significantly longer response and transfer times than the OLR group had. There was a significant Group × Secondary task interaction for response time (F2,215 = 12.6, p
ISSN:1079-5006
1758-535X
DOI:10.1093/gerona/62.5.537