The Characteristics of Walking in Old Men Analysed from the Ground Reaction Force

Abstract

The ground reaction forces during walking were investigated to detect the characteristics of walking in old men. The sixty-six subjects of ages ranging from twenty-three to seventy-eight years walked on the force plate with barefoot at their ordinary speeds and gait styles. The normalized impulses of brake and acceleration of the sagittal force (Fy) were decreased in old men. The side sway peak value and its normalized impulse were slightly increased in old men. The first and the second peaks of the vertical force (Fz) were decreased and the polar minimum value of Fz was increased in old men. The step length, speed and grip strength showed the clear decrease in old men. It was concluded that the characteristics of walking in old men were the walking with slow speed, short step length, weak Fy forces and normalized impulses and little vertical movements. It was also concluded that the interpretations of each principal component from the principal component analysis were almost the same in age groups in one's 20's, 30's, and 40's, and they were different from one another in age groups in one's 50's, 60's, and 70's, suggestinng that the walking became to change at one's 50's.