Anticipation of slippery floors: muscle onsets and co-contraction of the stance leg

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cham R ; Chambers AJ
• Description:
  INTRODUCTION: Falls are a major cause of injury, death and disability in the elderly [4,6,8]. In relatively healthy older adults, falls are often precipitated by base of support (BOS) perturbations such as slips and trips [1,5,6]. The use of proactive strategies has been revealed in gait studies using testing paradigms involving repeated exposure to a known perturbation [2,3]. The goal of this study, which has not been previously addressed, is to investigate the impact of anticipating real slippery floors on the muscle activity (onset and co-contractions) in the leading/left leg during gait on dry surfaces. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In summary, anticipating slippery surfaces affects lower leg muscle activation onsets and ankle/knee stiffness. While young and older subjects adopted similar strategies at the ankle when anticipating slippery floors, there were age-related differences associated with the upper leg muscles. It is worth noting the most critical recovery responses to slips are generated at the knee and hip, not the ankle. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Age Factors Aging Men Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Accidents Age-factors Age-groups Humans Injuries Knee-injuries Muscle-function Muscles Musculoskeletal-system Physical-reactions Physiological-effects Physiological-factors Physiological-function Physiology

  More +
• Publisher:
  American Society of Biomechanics
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039867
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the International Society of Biomechanics XXth Congress and the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, July 31 - August 5, 2005, Cleveland, Ohio. Newark, DE: The American Society of Biomechanics, 2005 Jul; :467
• Email:
  ajcst49@pitt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20020501
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the International Society of Biomechanics XXth Congress and the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, July 31 - August 5, 2005, Cleveland, Ohio
• End Date:
  20050430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:15c5e9bffaf73d130bd9c1c03d40c5073b300537f086d5344de0501db01d9656bb11e9c6223f2c8741d7dbc0e55963e3d18986de9afff2dee4f7614428516120
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192932/cdc_192932_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 88.35 KB ]