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Stair-Fall Risk Parameters in a Controlled Gait Laboratory Environment and Real (Domestic) Houses: A Prospective
Malarvizhi Ram1,2, Vasilios Baltzopoulos1, Andy Shaw2
1Research to Improve Stair Climbing Safety (RISCS), School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|January 23, 2024
Summary
Older adults who fall often exhibit riskier stair-climbing biomechanics, including reduced foot clearance and increased variability, even in real-world homes. These findings highlight the need for tailored fall prevention strategies for seniors navigating diverse stair environments.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Gerontology
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Falls on stairs pose a significant health risk to older adults.
- Previous research on stair fall risk factors was primarily conducted in controlled laboratory settings with standardized steps.
- The applicability of these findings to diverse domestic staircases remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if key biomechanical stair gait parameters (foot clearance, foot contact length, cadence) are maintained across different staircase dimensions in real homes.
- To compare stair negotiation strategies between older adults with and without a history of falls.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-five older adults (>65 years), categorized as fallers (n=13) or non-fallers (n=12), walked on laboratory stairs and in three different real houses.
- A novel instrumented shoe sensor system measured stair gait parameters.
- MATLAB was used for data extraction, and one-way ANOVA compared parameters across staircases and groups.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in biomechanical fall risk factors were observed between laboratory and real-world house staircases.
- Fallers, compared to non-fallers, demonstrated biomechanically riskier strategies during stair negotiation.
- Specifically, fallers exhibited less foot clearance and greater foot clearance variability on entry and middle steps during ascent.
Conclusions:
- Older adults classified as fallers do not adopt more conservative stepping strategies than low-risk individuals.
- Reduced foot clearance and increased variability in foot clearance among fallers elevate the risk of tripping.
- Findings underscore the importance of considering individual fall history and diverse environmental stair dimensions in fall prevention research.
