Effects of Compliant Flooring on Dynamic Balance and Gait Characteristics of Community-dwelling Older Persons

Comparison of Nonimmersive Virtual Reality and Task-Oriented Circuit Training on Gait, Balance, and Cognition Among Elderly Population: A Single-Blind Randomized Control Trial

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of nonimmersive virtual reality (VR) and task-oriented circuit training on gait, balance, cognitive domains, and quality of life among the elderly population. Methods: This is a single-blind randomized control trial in which 28 elderly individuals between 60 and 75 years were selected. The participants were divided into two groups, task-oriented circuit training and the other receiving nonimmersive VR treatment, with 14 participants in each group. To analyze the effects of both training on balance and gait time up and go test (TUGT), dynamic gait index (DGI), measures were used and for cognitive domains Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) scale was used. Short form 12 (SF-12) (along with two domains, Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary) was used for the measurement of quality of life. The treatment duration was 8 weeks for both groups. Both the pre-test and post-test readings were analyzed and compared. Results: The mean age of participants was 66.91 ± 3.79 years. Within-group comparison between the pre-test and post-test indicated that significant differences (P < 0.05) existed in all the outcome measures (TUGT, DGI, MoCA, and SF-12) in both groups. However, between-group comparison, significant differences were only found in TUGT and DGI in nonimmersive VR group. Conclusion: This study concluded that both interventions nonimmersive VR and task-oriented circuit training were beneficial for improving balance, gait, quality of life, and cognitive domains like memory, attention spans, executive functions, and so on in elderly population. However nonimmersive virtual reality training is a more effective, feasible, and safe alternative and can be proposed as a form of fall prevention exercise for the older adults. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05021432.

Effects of flooring on static and dynamic balance in young and older adults

BACKGROUND

Reducing fall-related injuries is difficult due to the multi-factorial nature of falls, and challenges in implementing injury-preventative strategies. While safety floors are effective at absorbing energy and reducing fall-related impact forces, the low stiffness component of these floors may impair an individual's balance and mobility, thereby increasing fall risk.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of compliant flooring (i.e., safety flooring) on balance and mobility in young and older adults.

METHODS

Kinematics were measured with inertial measurement units from 20 young and 10 older adults. Static balance was evaluated during quiet stance on three flooring surfaces (traditional, safety, foam) with three stance positions (regular, tandem, one-legged). Mobility was evaluated using the 3 m timed-up-and-go test on two flooring surfaces (traditional, safety).

RESULTS

All participants were able to complete quiet standing trials on normal and safety flooring surfaces; however, most older adults could not complete one-legged stance trials or standing on foam. Significant age-related effects were observed for several balance and mobility tasks, particularly during the more challenging tandem stance condition, and the dynamic timed-up-and-go mobility test. In contrast, the introduction of safety flooring (compared to traditional flooring) had limited effects on balance/mobility (1 of 16 outcome variables showed negative effects).

SIGNIFICANCE

Overall, the findings demonstrate minimal effects of a novel safety floor compared to the age-related differences, and provide insights to assist researchers, consumers, and industry stakeholders in the development of environments that support safe movement and maintained independence for older adults.

Footfall Deflection of Antifatigue Flooring During Simulated Human Stance

This study quantified the effect of compression load and duration on the deflection of five separate antifatigue flooring surfaces. Following standardized measurement of A Shore hardness, each sample underwent simulated single-leg stance indentation procedures that differed by compression load (45.3 kg, 90.7 kg, 136.1 kg) and duration (initial = 2.5 s, intermediate = 6.25 s, final = 12.5 s). Vertical deflection was compared across conditions, and the relationship between A Shore hardness and deflection was characterized. When compressed with 45.3 kg, deflection was not influenced by duration, but at 136 kg, deflection differed between durations by up to 15%. The relationship between A Shore hardness and deflection was characterized by a third-order polynomial function ( R2 > 0.991).

Low-impact (compliant) flooring and staff injuries

Introduction: Low impact flooring (LIF) has shown potential for reducing fall-related injuries for older people in residential care or hospital environments. However, the increased rolling resistance when moving equipment on these floors has raised concerns that staff injuries may increase.Methods: LIF was trialled on one Older Persons Health ward for 2.5 years. Reported staff injuries were monitored during and following the trial. Numbers of staff injured on the LIF ward were compared with three other similar and adjacent OPH wards without LIF for the duration of the trial ('concurrent control' evaluation). At the trial conclusion the LIF ward moved to a different hospital that had standard flooring. This enabled a further 'during and after' evaluation where numbers of staff injured from the LIF ward during the trial were compared with those reported afterwards by the same ward staff without LIF.Results: There was no difference in the numbers of staff injured in the LIF ward compared with the concurrent control wards (28 LIF vs 30 control; p = 0.44). The number of staff with injuries in the LIF ward also did not significantly alter when those staff moved to a new ward without LIF (45 after vs 28 before; p = 0.11).Conclusion: There was no change in the numbers of staff with injuries during the LIF trial in an Older Persons Health ward. This small study suggests LIF appears safe for both patients and staff.Implications for rehabilitationFalls in hospital are common with patient injuries occurring in approximately 20-30% of falls.Low impact (compliant) flooring may reduce fall-related injuries in hospitals and residential care.Low impact flooring has an increased rolling resistance, which has the potential to increase staff injuries when moving equipment.This study found no change in the number of staff injured during a low impact flooring trial providing some reassurance that these floors are safe for staff.