Effects of Slip Severity on Muscle Activation of the Trailing Leg During an Unexpected Slip

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cham R ; Chambers A ; Mahboobin A ; O'Connell C
• Description:
  Falls and injuries due to falls are a major health concern, and accidental slips are a leading cause of falls during gait. Understanding how the body reacts to an unexpected slip can aid in developing intervention techniques to reduce the number of injuries due to falls. In this study, muscle activation patterns, specifically those of the trailing (non-slipping) limb, were studied in unexpected slips of 24 young and 24 middle-aged adults. The typical reaction of the trailing limb is swing phase interruption in an attempt to arrest the slip. Variables examined were the reactive muscle activation onset, peak electromyography (EMG) magnitude, and time-to-peak of the vastus lateralis and medial hamstring of the trailing limb. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the effects of slip severity, quantified by peak slip velocity, and age on outcome variables. As slip severity increased, the reactive activation onset of the medial hamstring was significantly faster and there was a trend approaching significance for the onset of the vastus lateralis. Additionally, the peak magnitude and time-to-peak of the vastus lateralis increased with slip severity. No significant effects of age were found on any of the output variables. These findings may aid in development of perturbation-based paradigms, as it may be possible to "tune" the postural control system to generate an appropriate response to unexpected slips. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Aging Biomechanical Phenomena Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Potential Accident Prevention Age Groups Author Keywords: Slips Biokinetics Biomechanics Body Mechanics Body Regions Electromyography Falls Gait Humans Injuries Injury Prevention Kinesiology Kinetics Motion Studies Muscle Activity Muscle Function Muscle Physiology Posture Reactive Responses Slips Slips, Trips, And Falls STF

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• ISSN:
  1050-6411
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  61-66
• Volume:
  28
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049601
• Citation:
  J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2016 Jun; 28:61-66
• Contact Point Address:
  C. O'Connell, Human Movement and Balance Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, 439 Benedum Hall, 3700 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States
• Email:
  caitlino@pitt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations ; Services ; Mining ; Oil and Gas Extraction ; Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pittsburgh
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20020801
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
• End Date:
  20110831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1d46492fbd9b917b529cc74f7fef1d9fea75dfcc295307eb18e87561f0ee75daba05d8d6152095313acb425a1092925f98c7b2c0c2ee89ca91f28780c2fa7477
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210305/cdc_210305_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 583.05 KB ]