Association between Gait Variability and Gait-Ability Decline in Elderly Women with Subthreshold Insomnia Stage

Taesang Lee, Myeounggon Lee, Changhong Youm, Byungjoo Noh and Hwayoung Park
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Taesang Lee: Major in Dance Division of Creative Performing Arts, Silla University, Sasang-gu, Busan 46958, Korea
Myeounggon Lee: Biomechanics Laboratory, College of Health Sciences, Dong-A University, Saha-gu, Busan 49315, Korea
Changhong Youm: Biomechanics Laboratory, College of Health Sciences, Dong-A University, Saha-gu, Busan 49315, Korea
Byungjoo Noh: Department of Healthcare and Science, College of Health Sciences, Dong-A University, Saha-gu, Busan 49315, Korea
Hwayoung Park: Biomechanics Laboratory, College of Health Sciences, Dong-A University, Saha-gu, Busan 49315, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: sleep quality; menopause; dynamic stability; inertial measurement units (IMU); walking speed; gait variability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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