The effects of multiple obstacles and cognitive task on the obstacle gait in older adults

It has been known that the presence of obstacles and deterioration of cognitive function contribute to increased fall rates in older adults. Although age-related changes in obstacle avoidance strategies in the elderly have been studied extensively, little is investigated about adaptive characteristics regarding how elderly people cross multiple obstacles under concurrent cognitive tasks. Nine healthy older and 9 young adults participated in the study. We examined how single or multiple obstacle conditions influence the planning and execution of obstacle avoidance performance under dual-task conditions. Elderly people demonstrated a longer stance time before crossing the first obstacle than young adults when the task complexity increased. These stepping characteristics were more evident in the dual-task condition. However, other gait outcomes were not significantly affected by the level of task complexity when compared with young adults. These results indicate that changes in task demands appeared to influence the planning of stepping strategies rather than the execution for obstacle crossing performance in healthy older adults.