Usual and dual-task gait adaptations under visual stimulation in older adults at different ages

Abstract

Background: During the walk along the streets, older adults are exposed to various visual stimuli that can affect their gait in a harmful or beneficial way. Aims: To evaluate gait strategies during different situations with and without visual stimulation in older adults to identify the influence of the visual stimulus on these gait parameters. Methods: A total of 200 older adults were divided into 4 groups according to age range between 60 and 102 years. Gait was evaluated in the following situations: (1) habitual gait (HG); (2) gait with the visual stimulation (GVS) provided by a pedestrian traffic light, and (3) GVS associated with a cognitive task (GVS-C). The GAITRite Platinum equipment was used to assess gait variables. Results: Comparison of GVS and HG revealed that the visual stimulus influences the gait parameters and promotes a gait speed increase. However, to increase their gait speed, older adults aged 60–89 years used strategies of increased step length and cadence, whereas subjects older than 90 years used only strategies of increased cadence. In addition, comparison of GVS and GVS-C revealed a decrease in gait speed in all age ranges when the cognitive task was added, although this reduction was more pronounced in subjects older than 70 years. Conclusion: Visual stimulus influences the gait parameters in older adults and the strategy used is different depending on their age, a fact that shows that traffic light may be an interesting strategy to improve the gait performance during physical therapy.