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Related Experiment Videos

The Multiple Tasks Test: development and normal strategies.

B R Bloem1, V V Valkenburg, M Slabbekoorn

  • 1Department of Neurology, Radboud Oost, University Medical Centre, St. Radboud, 6500 H13 Nijmegen, The Netherlands. b.bloem@ion.ucl.ac.uk

Gait & Posture
|October 16, 2001
PubMed
Summary
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The Multiple Tasks Test (MTT) assesses balance during complex, everyday activities. Elderly individuals and young adults showed increased errors on more difficult tasks, highlighting the test's potential for evaluating balance disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Gerontology and Rehabilitation Science
  • Neuroscience and Biomechanics

Background:

  • Dual-tasking (posture and cognition) may be a better predictor of falls than single-task balance tests.
  • Existing balance tests often lack ecological validity, failing to represent real-world scenarios.
  • Parkinson's disease research identified fall risk factors and circumstances relevant to designing functional tests.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce the Multiple Tasks Test (MTT), a novel balance assessment tool.
  • To evaluate the MTT's ability to simulate everyday situations through simultaneous assessment of multiple postural and cognitive components.
  • To analyze performance differences between young and elderly healthy subjects on the MTT.

Main Methods:

  • Developed the MTT, incorporating motor (e.g., standing, walking, obstacle avoidance) and cognitive (answering questions) components.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Designed eight tasks of increasing complexity, combining components performed simultaneously.
  • Administered the MTT to 50 young (mean age 27.6) and 13 elderly (mean age 62.0) healthy subjects, with a subset tested in reverse order to assess learning effects.

    • Main Results:

    • Motor errors increased significantly with task complexity, particularly in elderly subjects.
    • Cognitive errors increased more than motor errors with complexity, especially in young subjects.
    • Elderly subjects performed all tasks slower than young subjects; motor errors were more frequent when tasks were presented in decreasing complexity.

    Conclusions:

    • The MTT is a novel, ecologically valid balance test suitable for clinical application.
    • Healthy subjects exhibit a 'posture first' strategy, prioritizing motor over cognitive tasks, more so in younger individuals.
    • The MTT shows promise for evaluating balance disorders, with further research needed to confirm its clinical utility.