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Updated: Jul 1, 2026
Substantiating Appropriate Motion Capture Techniques for the Assessment of Nordic Walking Gait and Posture in Older Adults
Published on: May 12, 2016
Ice cleat distribution programmes and ice cleat use among older adults: repeated cross-sectional evidence from 63
Robin Holmberg1,2, Johanna Gustavsson1,2, Mikael Svensson3
1Department of Political, Historical and Cultural Studies, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.
Introduction:
Ice cleats may help prevent ice-related falls in places with icy roads, but there is limited evidence about the association between ice cleat distribution and ice cleat use. Our study examined the association between Swedish municipal distribution programmes and ice cleat use among older adults (65+ years).
Methods:
We combined data on municipal ice cleat distribution programmes (n=63) with repeated cross-sectional self-reports of ice cleat use in Sweden from 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2018. Respondents (n=63 234) were classified as exposed if they lived in a municipality with a programme, belonged to an eligible age group and responded after distribution (n=2507). Dose-response was assessed using distributed ice cleat pairs per capita (mean: 0.38). Linear probability models were used to estimate probability differences in ice cleat use between exposed and unexposed respondents, adjusting for age, sex, country of birth, education, survey wave and municipality. Ineligible age groups living in programme municipalities, who should be unaffected by ice cleat distribution, were used for bias assessment.
Results:
Exposure to ice cleat distribution programmes was associated with 7.5 percentage points (95% CI 4.2 to 10.9) higher self-reported ice cleat use after confounding adjustment. The association was larger in municipalities that distributed one pair of ice cleats per capita (17.3 percentage points (95% CI 11.2 to 23.4)). No association was found among the ineligible age groups (-2.3 (95% CI -5.5 to 1.0)).
Conclusion:
Distributing ice cleats to older adults may help increase their use of ice cleats in settings with icy road conditions.
