Association between Gait Variability and Gait-Ability Decline in Elderly Women with Subthreshold Insomnia Stage.
This study investigates the gait characteristics of elderly women, aged more than 65 years, with subthreshold insomnia stage at various walking speeds. A total of 392 participants (insomnia: 202 and controls: 190) wearing shoe-type inertial measurement units completed walking tests on a treadmill for a duration of 1 min at slower, preferred, and faster speeds. The insomnia group indicated lower pace parameters (range of Cohen's d: 0.283-0.499) and the single support phase (Cohen's d: 0.237), greater gait variability (range of Cohen's d: 0.217-0.506), and bilateral coordination (range of Cohen's d: 0.254-0.319), compared with their age-matched controls; the coefficient of variance (CV) of the stance phase at the faster speed condition was a crucial variable for distinguishing between insomnia and control groups. In addition, the insomnia group demonstrated insufficient gait adaptation at the slower and preferred speeds, as indicated by the CVs of the stride length, stride time, and step time. In particular, participants with worsened insomnia symptoms or sleep problems showed that these worse gait patterns may increase the potential risk of falling in elderly women. Thus, elderly women with subthreshold insomnia stage need to improve their sleep quality to enhance their physical functions.
['Lee|Taesang|T|', 'Lee|Myeounggon|M|0000-0001-8546-5613', 'Youm|Changhong|C|0000-0001-7574-5259', 'Noh|Byungjoo|B|0000-0002-6292-6189', 'Park|Hwayoung|H|0000-0002-4625-9021']
D000368:Aged D005080:Exercise Test D005260:Female D005684:Gait D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic D006801:Humans D012775:Shoes D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders D016138:Walking D000072797:Walking Speed
gait variability walking speed sleep quality dynamic stability inertial measurement units (IMU) menopause