Gait Stability in Older Adults During Level-Ground Walking: The Attentional Focus Approach
dc.contributor.author | Mak, TCT | |
dc.contributor.author | Young, WR | |
dc.contributor.author | Chan, DCL | |
dc.contributor.author | Wong, TWL | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-09-30T13:16:56Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2018-10-08 | |
dc.description.abstract | Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of attentional focus instructions on gait stability during level-ground walking among older adults. Methods We recruited 140 community-dwelling older adults (mean age = 70.3 years, SD = 4.7 years) from elderly community centers in Hong Kong. The experiment included assessments on participant’s characteristics and walking trials. During walking trials, each participant was invited to walk at a self-selected pace along a 6-m walkway. Internal focus instructions (Internal condition), external focus instructions (External condition), or no instruction (Control condition) were given in a randomized order for three trials per condition, giving a total of nine walking trials. Spatial and temporal gait parameters were measured. Results Results showed significantly higher body sway and variability of swing and stance time under Internal condition relative to External and Control conditions. Moreover, reduced velocity and shorter steps were demonstrated under Internal condition relative to External and Control conditions. Discussion External focus instructions did not improve gait stability in older adults when compared to Control condition. Internal focus instructions appear to compromise gait stability. Future research should investigate if walking instructions that refer to body movements explicitly compromise gait rehabilitation for older adults in clinical settings. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 8 October 2018 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1093/geronb/gby115 | |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | 27608815 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/38979 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) | en_GB |
dc.rights | © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com | en_GB |
dc.title | Gait Stability in Older Adults During Level-Ground Walking: The Attentional Focus Approach | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2019-09-30T13:16:56Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1079-5014 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available from Oxford University Press (OUP) via the DOI in this record. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | The Journals of Gerontology: Series B | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2018-10-08 | |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2018-10-08 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2019-09-30T13:12:44Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | VoR | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2019-09-30T13:16:58Z | |
refterms.panel | C | en_GB |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com