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Updated: Aug 19, 2025
Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
Published on: November 7, 2014
Spatiotemporal parameters during turning gait maneuvers of different amplitudes in young and elderly healthy adults:
Julian Madrid1, Baptiste Ulrich2, Alejandro N Santos1
1Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DNC), Clinic of Neurology, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Background:
Turning during walking adds complexity to gait and has been little investigated until now. Research question What are the differences in spatiotemporal parameters between young and elderly healthy adults performing quarter-turns (90°), half-turns (180°) and full-turns (360°)?
Methods:
The spatiotemporal parameters of 10 young and 10 elderly adults were recorded in a laboratory while turning at 90°, 180° and 360°. Two-way mixed ANOVA were performed to determine the effect of age and turning amplitude.
Results:
Elderly were slower and needed more steps and time to perform turns of larger amplitude than young adults. Cadence did not differ across age or across turning amplitude. Generally, in the elderly, the spatial parameters were smaller and the temporal parameters enhancing stability (i.e., double-support phase and stance/cycle ratio) were larger, especially for turns of larger amplitudes. In elderly adults, the variability of some spatial parameters was decreased, whereas the variability of some temporal parameters was increased. Stride width of the external leg showed the most substantial difference between groups. Most parameters differed between turning at 90° and turning at larger amplitudes (180°, 360°). Significance This study extends the characterization of turning biomechanics with respect to ageing. It also suggested paying particular attention to the turning amplitude. Finally, the age-related differences may pave the way for new selective rehabilitation protocols in the elderly.
