Differences of gait adaptability behavior between young and healthy older adults during a locomotor pointing task in virtual reality

Abstract

Background: Gait adaptability training programs to prevent falls in healthy older adults can be proposed in virtual reality. The development of training programs requires the characterization of the target population.

Research question: Before proposing an innovative training program to develop gait adaptability behavior of healthy older adults in fully immersive virtual reality, we had to compare gait adaptability behavior between healthy older adults and young adults in virtual reality.

Methods: Twenty healthy older adults (with no fall history) and twenty young adults performed a goal-directed locomotion task in a totally secure virtual reality set-up. Gait adaptability behavior was investigated via a set of measures taking into account gait speed, pointing accuracy, and the evolution of the relationship between the participant and the environment through both inter-trial and trial-by-trial analyses. Mann-Whitney tests and linear regressions were performed to determine potential age differences.

Results: The results reveal some common and specific strategies in gait adaptability behavior between healthy older and young adults. In both populations, successive gait adjustments depend on the state of the agent-environment system. However, older adults walked more slowly than young adults (p < .001) with a greater coupling at the end of the target approach (p = .003).

Significance: In the context of fall prevention in healthy older adults, fully immersive VR appears as a relevant tool to propose relevant gait training programs to improve gait adjustments.

Keywords: Age comparison; Fall prevention; Gait adaptability behavior; Virtual reality.