Gait initiation in older people: Concepts, clinical implications and methodology

Abstract

Anticipatory postural adjustments are necessary neuromuscular strategies to begin a new gait cycle and to safely take the first step forward. For this purpose, postural transients about to occur with imminent forward motion must be controlled. Impairments in this process must be understood in order to reveal pathophysiological mechanisms underlying dynamic balance problems in the older population. The aim of this chapter is twofold: to firstly explain the typical mechanism of gait initiation (GI), some aspects that affect its pattern and benefits of training interventions for the elderly population and, secondly, to describe computational methods to assess and quantify this mechanism based on force plate measurements.