Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults

Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults

Published on: November 7, 2014

Gait variability while dual-tasking: fall predictor in older inpatients?

Reto W Kressig¹, François R Herrmann, Raphaël Grandjean

¹Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. rkressig@uhbs.ch

Aging Clinical and Experimental Research

|April 24, 2008

Summary

Increased stride time variability during dual-task walking predicts falls in older hospitalized patients. This finding helps identify at-risk individuals for fall prevention strategies in acute geriatric care.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Determinants of antipsychotic prescription in women detainees admitted to an acute forensic psychiatric unit.

Frontiers in psychiatry·2026

Same author

Retraction Note: Daylight saving time affects European mortality patterns.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

REPLY TO: "Daylight Saving Time and Mortality-Proceed with Caution "in response to "Daylight saving time affects European mortality patterns" by Levy et al.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Walking limitation trajectories: a healthy longevity marker.

The lancet. Healthy longevity·2026

Same author

Agitation Severity and Psychotropic Prescription in Acute Patients With Delirium Superimposed on Dementia.

Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society·2026

Same author

Beyond specialty silos: geriatrics as a core competency for all physicians in an aging Europe.

European geriatric medicine·2026

Area of Science:

Geriatric Medicine
Clinical Biomechanics
Fall Prevention Research

Background:

Gait variability predicts falls in community-dwelling older adults.
The relationship between gait variability and falls in hospitalized older adults is unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if gait variability predicts inpatient falls in an acute geriatric setting.
To assess gait variability under single-task (usual walking) and dual-task conditions.

Main Methods:

Stride time variability was measured using the GAITRite-System in 57 hospitalized older adults.
Measurements were taken during both usual walking and dual-task walking.
Falls were tracked via the hospital accident reporting system.

More Related Videos

Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients

Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients

Published on: March 11, 2021

Dual-Task Stroop Paradigm for Detecting Cognitive Deficits in High-Functioning Stroke Patients

Dual-Task Stroop Paradigm for Detecting Cognitive Deficits in High-Functioning Stroke Patients

Published on: December 16, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults

Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults

Published on: November 7, 2014

Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients

Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients

Published on: March 11, 2021

Dual-Task Stroop Paradigm for Detecting Cognitive Deficits in High-Functioning Stroke Patients

Dual-Task Stroop Paradigm for Detecting Cognitive Deficits in High-Functioning Stroke Patients

Published on: December 16, 2022

Main Results:

Increased stride time variability in both single- and dual-task walking predicted falls.
Dual-task stride time variability was a stronger predictor of falls.
The coefficient of variation of stride time during dual-task walking significantly predicted fall occurrence (p=0.006).

Conclusions:

Stride time variability during dual-task walking effectively distinguishes fallers from non-fallers in older inpatients.
This measure can aid in identifying fall risk among independently walking older adults in hospitals.