Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32196529›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2020

Effect of the environment on gait and gaze behavior in older adult fallers compared to older adult non-fallers.

Lisa A Zukowski, Gözde Iyigün, Carol A Giuliani, Prudence Plummer

Open access · goldAbstract readClinical TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Lisa A ZukowskiDepartment of Physical Therapy, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-9682-1564
Gözde IyigünDepartment of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, North Cyprus, Turkey.ORCID 0000-0001-8346-9952
Carol A GiulianiDivision of Physical Therapy, Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
Prudence PlummerDivision of Physical Therapy, Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · USEastern Mediterranean University · CYHigh Point University · US

Funding

North Carolina Translational & Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS)UL1TR001111 · NCATS · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI BUSE, JOHN BERNARD, CAREY, TIMOTHY S · 2013 to 2017
$43.9M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001111
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCompared to controlled laboratory settings, the real world is highly distracting with constant demands on visual attention to avoid hazards and falling. Fall-risk assessments do not adequately take into account the potential role of everyday distractions and environmental hazards. The purpose of this project was to identify the effect of the environment on gait and gaze behavior during walking in older adult fallers relative to non-fallers.

methodsThirteen older adult fallers (76.8±9.4 years, 3.2±2.3 falls in last year) and 13 age-matched non-fallers (78.3±7.3 years, 0 falls in last year) participated. Participants walked in a real-world and lab setting while gait and gaze were recorded. Gait variables were stride length variability, stride duration variability, and stride velocity. Gaze was analyzed for percentage of time fixating and average fixation duration coded across 6 areas of interest (AOIs) in the visual surroundings.

resultsNon-fallers walked faster than fallers, but there were no other group or environment effects on gait. For gaze behavior, fallers had shorter fixation durations on the near environment than non-fallers, but only in the real world. In the real world relative to the lab, fallers decreased fixation durations on the near environment but increased durations on near people. In the real world, participants spent a greater proportion of time fixating on people than on the walking path or the near environment compared to the lab. After adjusting for baseline gait speed, fallers had shorter fixation durations than non-fallers in both environments.

conclusionsOur results indicate that in a busy environment, older adults concentrate most of their overt visual attention on people when navigating their walking path. Fallers in particular focus longer on people near to them and have overall shorter fixations than non-fallers. Visual focus while walking in a busy environment should be further explored as a fall-risk factor.

Indexed as

Accidental FallsAttentionFixation, OcularGaitWalkingAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMale

Identifiers

PMID32196529
PMCPMC7083306
OpenAlexW3012206915

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.