Experience-related differences in eye movement characteristics during supervised walking and stair negotiation in...

[Purpose] This study examined the eye movement characteristics of physical therapists during supervised level walking and stair negotiation and explored whether these characteristics differed according to clinical experience. [Participants and Methods] Twenty-seven physical therapists performed supervised level walking, and eighteen performed supervised stair negotiation while wearing a head-mounted eye tracker. Eye movement speed and binocular combined angle deviation were analyzed during each task. [Results] Right-eye movement speed during supervised level walking was descriptively higher in physical therapists with greater clinical experience, but statistically significant group differences were not confirmed after adjustment across eye movement outcomes. No statistically significant group differences in right-eye movement speed or binocular combined angle deviation were observed during supervised stair negotiation. [Conclusion] This exploratory study did not confirm clear experience-related differences in eye movement characteristics during supervised locomotion. The findings provide preliminary information on visual monitoring during supervised mobility tasks and highlight the need for further studies with larger samples and standardized task conditions.