Affiliation:
1. Faculty of Rehabilitation, The Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, 00-968 Warsaw, Poland
2. Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to investigate how —external perturbations caused by a treadmill belt’s acceleration (Acc) and deceleration (Dec) during the Initial-Contact (Initial), Mid-Stance (Mid), and Pre-Swing (ToeOff) phases affect gait regularity in young adults. Methods: Twenty-one healthy young females walked on a treadmill in a virtual environment (Motek GRAIL), in which four unexpected perturbations were applied to the left belt at the Initial, Mid, and ToeOff stages. Sample entropy (SampEn) was calculated for the center of mass (CoM) displacements for six perturbation scenarios in three directions—anterior–posterior (AP), medial–lateral (ML), and vertical (vert)—with SampEn vector lengths (m) ranging from 2 to 10. Results: The CoM displacement exhibited its highest regularity (low SampEn values) in the AP and vert directions during Dec–ToeOff, across all m values. Similarly, this pattern was observed in the ML direction, but exclusively for m = 2 and 4. The least-regular CoM trajectories (high SampEn values) were for Dec–Mid in the AP direction, across all m values. This trend persisted in the ML direction only for m = 2 and 4. However, the most irregular CoM displacements in the ML direction occurred during Dec–ToeOff for the remaining m values. Vertical CoM displacements exhibited the highest irregularities during Dec–Initial for m ≥ 4. Conclusions: Evaluating the regularity of CoM displacements using SampEn can be a useful tool for assessing how gait perturbations are handled.
Funder
Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education
European Union
Ministry of Education and Science
Subject
Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes,Computer Science Applications,Process Chemistry and Technology,General Engineering,Instrumentation,General Materials Science
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