The effects of fall experience by tripping on the movement of stepping over an obstacle

Abstract

This study examines the effects of fall experience caused by tripping on the movement of stepping over an obstacle. The participants were divided into 3 groups (26 fallers caused by tripping, 24 fallers caused by other causes, and 145 non-fallers). Participants stepped forward over a 10 cm high obstacle with one leg, and then returned to their original position five times as quickly as possible. The OSFS (obstacle single leg forward step) test was measured in the following 2 phases: the OSFS-F phase, in which participants stepped out on one leg, and the OSFS-R phase, in which they returned it. Significant differences among the three groups were found in all parameters, and the fallers by tripping were significantly inferior to the non-fallers. There were no significant differences between the fallers by other reasons and the non-fallers in all parameters. The fallers by tripping were slower in the obstacle step movement than the non-fallers.

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Shin, S. , Demura, S. , Sugiura, H. , Uchida, Y. and Xu, N. (2013) The effects of fall experience by tripping on the movement of stepping over an obstacle. Advances in Aging Research, 2, 81-85. doi: 10.4236/aar.2013.22011.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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