Age differences in the required coefficient of friction during level walking do not exist when experimentally-controlling speed and step length

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anderson DE ; Franck CT ; Madigan ML
• Description:
  The effects of gait speed and step length on the required coefficient of friction (COF) confound the investigation of age-related differences in required COF. The goals of this study were to investigate whether age differences in required COF during self-selected gait persist when experimentally-controlling speed and step length, and to determine the independent effects of speed and step length on required COF. Ten young and 10 older healthy adults performed gait trials under five gait conditions: self-selected, slow and fast speeds without controlling step length, and slow and fast speeds while controlling step length. During self-selected gait, older adults walked with shorter step lengths and exhibited a lower required COF. Older adults also exhibited a lower required COF when walking at a controlled speed without controlling step length. When both age groups walked with the same speed and step length, no age difference in required COF was found. Thus, speed and step length can have a large influence on studies investigating age-related differences in required COF. It was also found that speed and step length have independent and opposite effects on required COF, with step length having a strong positive effect on required COF, and speed having a weaker negative effect. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Aging Men Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Age-factors Age-groups Author Keywords: Aging Gait Ground Reaction Forces Humans Locomotion Physical-reactions Physiological-function Physiology Slipping

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• ISSN:
  1065-8483
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  30
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046232
• Citation:
  J Appl Biomech 2014 Aug; 30(4):542-546
• Contact Point Address:
  Michael L. Madigan is with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX
• Email:
  mlmadigan@bme.tamu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• End Date:
  20150831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:47fc77c2639cc64464212d82748d507e1ff656de7e2bd2573c46b0affc5a2e967fe67bdb4b2f0122586c2e77708a23c9db15c44667bf295fab47292fa9ff5e67
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201345/cdc_201345_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 737.06 KB ]