| Many of the gait changes inherent in aging are implicated in the increased risk of falling in this population. The sagittal plane parameters gait speed and step length, as well as frontal plane gait characteristics, were investigated for their influence on the outcome of a slip, especially through their impact on the initial slip response.;Stability, a mathematically derived measure associated with fall risk, is determined by its components, position and velocity of the center of mass, which are related to step length and gait speed. Young adult subjects were able to follow gait speed and cadence targets simultaneously to successfully decouple gait speed from step length. These parameters, along with trunk inclination, controlled the subject's stability at slip initiation. Shorter steps somewhat more so than a faster gait ameliorated fall risk when a slip was encountered, apparently due to the maintenance of stability through the early part of the slip response.;Among older adults walking at self selected gait patterns, the gait speed and step length and their corresponding stability components did not influence reactive stability control or fall risk, although they did influence the type of fall a person would experience. The frontal plane COM and BOS control also appear not to have impacted the slip outcome. |
