Walking on Mild Slopes and Altering Arm Swing Each Induce Specific Strategies in Healthy Young Adults

Authors
Affiliation

Mary-Elise MacDonald

University of Ottawa

Tarique Siragy

University of Ottawa

Allen Hill

University of Ottawa

Julie Nantel

University of Ottawa

Published

January 25, 2022

Abstract
Slopes are present in everyday environments and require specific postural strategies for successful navigation; different arm strategies may be used to manage external perturbations while walking. It has yet to be determined what impact arm swing has on postural strategies and gait stability during sloped walking. We investigated the potentially interacting effects of surface slope and arm motion on gait stability and postural strategies in healthy young adults. We tested 15 healthy adults, using the CAREN-Extended system to simulate a rolling-hills environment which imparted both incline (uphill) and decline (downhill) slopes (± 3°). This protocol was completed under three imposed arm swing conditions: held, normal, active. Spatiotemporal gait parameters, mediolateral margin of stability, and postural kinematics in anteroposterior (AP), mediolateral (ML), and vertical (VT) directions were assessed. Main effects of conditions and interactions were evaluated by 2-way repeated measures analysis of variance. Our results showed no interactions between arm swing and slope; however, we found main effects of arm swing and main effects of slope. As expected, uphill and downhill sections of the rolling-hills yielded opposite stepping and postural strategies compared to level walking, and active and held arm swings led to opposite postural strategies compared to normal arm swing. Arm swing effects were consistent across slope conditions. Walking with arms held decreased gait speed, indicating a level of caution, but maintained stability comparable to that of walking with normal arm swing. Active arm swing increased both step width variability and ML-MoS during downhill sections. Alternately, ML-MoS was larger with increased step width and double support time during uphill sections compared to level, which demonstrates that distinct base of support strategies are used to manage arm swing compared to slope. The variability of the rolling-hills also required proactive base of support changes despite the mild slopes to maintain balance.
Keywords

gait, stability, posture, arm swing, uphill, downhill

Reuse

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@article{macdonald2022,
  author = {MacDonald, Mary-Elise and Siragy, Tarique and Hill, Allen
    and Nantel, Julie},
  publisher = {Frontiers},
  title = {Walking on {Mild} {Slopes} and {Altering} {Arm} {Swing}
    {Each} {Induce} {Specific} {Strategies} in {Healthy} {Young}
    {Adults}},
  journal = {Frontiers in Sports and Active Living},
  volume = {3},
  pages = {805147},
  date = {2022-01-25},
  url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.805147/full},
  doi = {10.3389/fspor.2021.805147},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {Slopes are present in everyday environments and require
    specific postural strategies for successful navigation; different
    arm strategies may be used to manage external perturbations while
    walking. It has yet to be determined what impact arm swing has on
    postural strategies and gait stability during sloped walking. We
    investigated the potentially interacting effects of surface slope
    and arm motion on gait stability and postural strategies in healthy
    young adults. We tested 15 healthy adults, using the CAREN-Extended
    system to simulate a rolling-hills environment which imparted both
    incline (uphill) and decline (downhill) slopes (± 3°). This protocol
    was completed under three imposed arm swing conditions: held,
    normal, active. Spatiotemporal gait parameters, mediolateral margin
    of stability, and postural kinematics in anteroposterior (AP),
    mediolateral (ML), and vertical (VT) directions were assessed. Main
    effects of conditions and interactions were evaluated by 2-way
    repeated measures analysis of variance. Our results showed no
    interactions between arm swing and slope; however, we found main
    effects of arm swing and main effects of slope. As expected, uphill
    and downhill sections of the rolling-hills yielded opposite stepping
    and postural strategies compared to level walking, and active and
    held arm swings led to opposite postural strategies compared to
    normal arm swing. Arm swing effects were consistent across slope
    conditions. Walking with arms held decreased gait speed, indicating
    a level of caution, but maintained stability comparable to that of
    walking with normal arm swing. Active arm swing increased both step
    width variability and ML-MoS during downhill sections. Alternately,
    ML-MoS was larger with increased step width and double support time
    during uphill sections compared to level, which demonstrates that
    distinct base of support strategies are used to manage arm swing
    compared to slope. The variability of the rolling-hills also
    required proactive base of support changes despite the mild slopes
    to maintain balance.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
MacDonald, Mary-Elise, Tarique Siragy, Allen Hill, and Julie Nantel. 2022. “Walking on Mild Slopes and Altering Arm Swing Each Induce Specific Strategies in Healthy Young Adults.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 3 (January): 805147. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.805147.