title: Altered balance control following concussion is better detected with an attention test during gait.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of concussion on gait stability when either a cognitive or motor perturbation is imposed. Fourteen individuals suffering from a grade II concussion and 14 matched controls performed a single task of level walking, a continuous sequential question and answer task while walking, and an obstacle-crossing task. Common gait spatial/temporal measurements, whole-body center of mass motion, and center of pressure trajectory were assessed. Concussed individuals adopted a more conservative strategy to maintain gait stability. Some measurements indicating conservative gait were seen during obstacle crossing, but this was most evident during the Q&A task. Concussed individuals also displayed signs of possible instability during the Q&A task. The question and answer task was most sensitive to distinguishing concussed individuals from healthy individuals, supporting the use of a similar dual-task modality in future testing after concussion to determine a proper time for return to activity.
authors.affiliation: Motion Analysis Laboratory, Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Catena
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Donkelaar
authors.forename: Li-Shan
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Chou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*