title: Does arm swing emphasized deliberately increase the trunk stability during walking in the elderly adults?
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether trunk stability while walking changes when arm swing is deliberately altered in elderly individuals. Participants included 21 community-dwelling elderly individuals (7 men and 14 women; age, 81.8 ± 5.0 years). We measured trunk acceleration by using a wireless miniature sensor unit containing a tri-axial linear accelerometer under 3 walking conditions: normal walking (normal condition), deliberately walking without any arm swing (no swing condition), and walking with a deliberately emphasized arm swing (over swing condition). To evaluate trunk stability during walking, we calculated harmonic ratios (HRs) based on trunk tri-axial acceleration signals (anteroposterior: AP, vertical: VT, and mediolateral: ML). HR-AP and HR-VT were not significantly different across the 3 conditions, but HR-ML in the over swing condition was significantly higher than that in the other 2 conditions by generalized estimating equations (GEE) adjusted for walking speed (p<0.05). These findings indicate that trunk stability in the ML direction increased when the elderly individuals walked with a deliberately emphasized arm swing.
authors.affiliation: Section for Health Promotion, Department for Functioning Activation, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan; Department of Community Health Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan. Electronic address: sho-n@ncgg.go.jp.
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakakubo
authors.affiliation: Section for Health Promotion, Department for Functioning Activation, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan; Research Institute, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan; Kobe City Hospital Organization, Kobe City Medical Center West Hospital,Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Misu
authors.affiliation: Section for Health Promotion, Department for Functioning Activation, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan; Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Kota
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsutsumimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Rei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ono
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D060726:Torso / Q000502:physiology*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Arm swing; Elderly; Trunk stability; Walking