Baseline-Dependent Effect of Noise-Enhanced Insoles on Gait Variability in Healthy Elderly Walkers

摘要

The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing subsensory stochastic-resonance mechanical vibration to the foot soles of elderly walkers could decrease gait variability. In a randomized double-blind controlled trial, twenty nine (29) subjects engaged in treadmill walking while wearing sandals customized with three (3) actuators capable of producing stochastic-resonance mechanical vibration embedded in each sole. For each subject, we determined a subsensory level of vibration stimulation. After a 5-minute acclimation period of walking with the footwear, subjects were asked to walk on the treadmill for six (6) trials, each thirty (30) seconds long. Trials were pair-wise random: in three trials, actuators provided subsensory vibration; in the other trials, they did not. Subjects wore reflective markers to track body motion. Stochastic-resonance mechanical stimulation exhibited baseline-dependent effects on spatial stride-to-stride variability in gait, slightly increasing variability in subjects with least baseline variability and providing greater reductions in variability for subjects with greater baseline variability (p < .001). Thus, applying stochastic-resonance mechanical vibrations on the plantar surface of the foot reduces gait variability for subjects with more variable gait. Stochastic-resonance mechanical vibrations may provide an effective intervention for preventing falls in healthy elderly walkers.