2010 Volume 25 Issue 2 Pages 299-303
[Purpose] Most falls by the older adults occur due to external perturbation such as slip or trip. Thus, the assessment of responses to external perturbations may identify the older adults with potential risk of fall which cannot be identified using existing physical tests. The purpose of this study was to identify the differences of postural responses to external perturbation between older and young adults using a newly developed device to measure the postural response to lateral perturbation while walking. [Subjects] The participants were 13 older (age: mean 77.9 ± 3.9) and 15 young adults (age: mean 20.1 ± 3.1). [Methods] The responses to the lateral perturbation were measured by a sway meter when the participants walked on the device at a comfortable pace and we compared the results between older adults and young. [Results] The older adults showed significantly smaller acceleration in secondary responses than the young adults. [Conclusion] The result suggests that the smaller secondary response might reflect the difference in response to external perturbation between older and young adults.
