Uncovering age-related differences in foot trajectory patterns during obstacle crossing: Statistical parametric mapping approach

Introduction

Falls in older adults frequently occur during obstacle crossing. Recent investigations have focused on age-related differences in foot trajectory patterns throughout the swing phase of obstacle crossing. However, a standardized method for comparing these differences has not been established. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) is advantageous for comparing time-series data and may be applicable to foot trajectory data.

Objective

This study aimed to elucidate age-related differences in foot trajectory patterns using SPM.

Methods

We conducted a secondary analysis of data from Sakurai et al. (2021), involving 72 older (78.04 ± 5.74 years) and 76 younger (28.36 ± 7.84 years) adults. Participants were required to walk and cross a 15 cm-high obstacle four times. The foot trajectory pattern was calculated using the toe height throughout one step (i.e., the swing phase from toe-off to heel contact) when the leading limb crossed the obstacle. The patterns were normalized based on the time required for each step. Differences in foot trajectory patterns were compared between age groups using a non-paired t-test SPM.

Results

Older adults exhibited higher toe heights preceding obstacle crossing and lower toe heights before landing compared to younger adults. This indicates that age-related differences in the foot trajectory patterns occurred both before obstacle crossing and landing.

Conclusion

Our novel approach demonstrates the utility of SPM in capturing foot trajectory patterns during obstacle crossing and provides evidence that age-related characteristics may be overlooked by confining analysis solely to the moment of obstacle crossing.