Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Response Time Is More Important Than Walking Speed For The Ability Of Older Adults To Avoid A Fall After A Trip, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, M. J. Pavol, M. D. Grabiner

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

We previously reported that the probability of an older adult recovering from a forward trip and using a “lowering” strategy increases with decreased walking velocity and faster response time. To determine the within-subject interaction of these variables we asked three questions: (1) Is the body orientation at the time that the recovery foot is lowered to the ground (“tilt angle”) critical for successful recovery? (2) Can a simple inverted pendulum model, using subject-specific walking velocity and response time as input variables, predict this body orientation, and thus success of recovery? (3) Is slower walking velocity or faster response time more …