Beam walking increases gait velocity and reduces falls risk in older adults

A third of community-dwelling older adults will fall at least once per year, often during walking. In such individuals, the greatest postural instability during walking occurs in the mediolateral direction and thus lateral instability is a significant risk factor for falls. The current study uses one-month of beam walking to challenge the dynamic mediolateral stability of older adults in an attempt to improve balance and reduce falls risk.

25 community dwelling older adults over 70 years of age (Mean = 83.5 yrs.) completed a fear of falling questionnaire, the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), and normal and fast walking trials. Participants then walked along a series of wooden beams of decreasing widths. Following pretest measurements participants practiced walking on the beams twice a week for 4 weeks. Assessments were conducted at the end of practice (posttest) and one week later (retention test).

At the pretest 83 % of the participants reported they were somewhat afraid of falling while at the retention test 37 % were somewhat afraid of falling. ABC scores improved from the pretest (M = 61 %) to the retention test (M = 90 %). The DGI also improved significantly as a result of the beam-walking. Gait analysis revealed that stride length and gait velocity increased significantly following training while stride length and stride width variability decreased.

Beam training appears to be a simple intervention that can improve dynamic mediolateral stability consequently reducing the falls risk of older adults.