Effect of arm motion on postural stability when recovering from a slip perturbation
Hossein Gholizadeh 
Allen Hill
Julie Nantel
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of various arm swing on postural stability and recovery responses to an unexpected slip during treadmill walking. Fifteen healthy young adults (23.4 ± 2.8 years old) participated in this study. The CAREN-Extended system was used to simulate unexpected slip perturbations in a safe environment while walking symmetrically and asymmetrically with various arm swings (normal, bound, released). Whole-body angular momentum (range), peak trunk angular velocities, step width and stance time were extracted before and after perturbations (when recovering from slip). All participants were able to recover their balance after two strides and no falls occurred. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in most gait parameters between pre- and post-perturbations. Arm conditions had significant effects on all gait parameters during both pre- and post-perturbation except for stance time. Compared to symmetric walking, walking asymmetrically before a perturbation led to larger step width and stance time among the different arm conditions both before and after the perturbations. Despite the presence of significant effects of different arm and walking conditions on most gait parameters during pre- and post-perturbation, participants were able to implement stabilization strategies to prevent fall even when they were prevented from using their normal arm swing, in both symmetric and asymmetric walking. While our results indicate that perturbations were mild to moderate in magnitude, investigations with elderly and faller populations are needed to examine their susceptibility to these arm and walking conditions when trying to regain postural balance.
perturbation, stability, gait, falls, upper extremity, angular momentum, slip, arm swing
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Citation
@article{gholizadeh2019,
author = {Gholizadeh, Hossein and Hill, Allen and Nantel, Julie},
title = {Effect of Arm Motion on Postural Stability When Recovering
from a Slip Perturbation},
journal = {Journal of Biomechanics},
volume = {95},
pages = {109269},
date = {2019-10-14},
url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002192901930466X},
doi = {10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.07.013},
langid = {en},
abstract = {The aim of this study was to examine the effects of
various arm swing on postural stability and recovery responses to an
unexpected slip during treadmill walking. Fifteen healthy young
adults (23.4\,±\,2.8\,years old) participated in this study. The
CAREN-Extended system was used to simulate unexpected slip
perturbations in a safe environment while walking symmetrically and
asymmetrically with various arm swings (normal, bound, released).
Whole-body angular momentum (range), peak trunk angular velocities,
step width and stance time were extracted before and after
perturbations (when recovering from slip). All participants were
able to recover their balance after two strides and no falls
occurred. There were significant differences (p\,\textless\,0.05) in
most gait parameters between pre- and post-perturbations. Arm
conditions had significant effects on all gait parameters during
both pre- and post-perturbation except for stance time. Compared to
symmetric walking, walking asymmetrically before a perturbation led
to larger step width and stance time among the different arm
conditions both before and after the perturbations. Despite the
presence of significant effects of different arm and walking
conditions on most gait parameters during pre- and
post-perturbation, participants were able to implement stabilization
strategies to prevent fall even when they were prevented from using
their normal arm swing, in both symmetric and asymmetric walking.
While our results indicate that perturbations were mild to moderate
in magnitude, investigations with elderly and faller populations are
needed to examine their susceptibility to these arm and walking
conditions when trying to regain postural balance.}
}