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Updated: May 16, 2026
Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion
Published on: January 15, 2016
An observational study of foot lifts asymmetry during obstacle avoidance
Ujjawal Singh Tomar1, Nalina Gupta
1Department of Physiotherapy, College of Applied Education and Health Sciences, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Background:
Specific information regarding obstacle-clearance strategies used by community-dwelling young and elderly is scant in the literature, and physical barriers encountered in real-life situations have not been used in most of the studies.
Aim:
The aim of this study is to determine foot lift asymmetry during obstacle avoidance in young and elderly subjects.
Settings And Design:
This was an observational study.
Materials And Methods:
Thirty elderly and 30 young individuals were taken for the study. All the subjects were evaluated using different scales and foot lift asymmetry was measured on a walkway using three obstacles of different heights.
Results:
The mean and standard deviation (SD) value of the asymmetric index of the young was 3.25±0.28 and the mean and SD value of the asymmetric index of the elderly was 3.53±0.47. The asymmetric index of the elderly population was found to be higher than that of the younger population.
Conclusion:
The asymmetric index of the elderly population was found to be higher than that of the younger population, though it is not clinically significant.
