10-meter walking test among obese and non-obese community dwelling elderly

There are over 72 million people in the US are obese (BMI>30). Falls have been identified as the most common cause of injuries in the obese, and obese elderly fell almost twice as frequently as their lean counterparts per year. Falls among older adults often occur during walking, and gait dysfunction is included among the many risk factors for falls. As such, this study evaluated gait functions during 10-meter walking tasks among twenty community-dwelling elderly. Ten obese elderly and ten non-obese elderly (aged 65-84) participated in this study. Participants were asked to walk at selfselected pace for two 10-meter trials. This was performed on a walking course marked by blue tape on the floor to indicate 10-meter distance. Total walking time was recorded. Three custom-made wireless inertial measurement units (IMUs) were attached on participants’ trunk and both shanks to obtain the temporal and kinematic parameters. The results showed that there was no significant difference in walking velocity, stance time, double support time, step length, cadence and total walking time to complete the task (p>0.05) between the obese and non-obese groups. However, obese participants walked with significantly less swing time than their non-obese counterparts (p=0.04). The less swing time may be explained as gait adaptations among the obese related to their increased need of effort to move a heavier limb with impaired lower extremity muscle functions. However, the evaluation of walking behavior itself would not provide sufficient information to identify differences in the dynamic postural control between obese and non-obese elderly.