TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of upper body accelerations in young adults with intellectual disabilities while walking, running, and dual-task running
AU - Iosa, Marco
AU - Morelli, Daniela
AU - Nisi, Enrica
AU - Sorbara, Carlo
AU - Negrini, Stefano
AU - Gentili, Paola
AU - Paolucci, Stefano
AU - Fusco, Augusto
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - There is an increasing interest about upper body accelerations during locomotion and how they are altered by physical impairments. Recent studies have demonstrated that cognitive impairments affect gait stability in the elderly (i.e., their capacity for smoothing upper body accelerations during walking) but little attention has been paid to young adults with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine upright stability in young adults with intellectual disabilities during walking, running, and dual-task running (playing soccer). To this aim a wearable trunk-mounted device that permits on-field assessment was used to quantify trunk acceleration of 18 male teenagers with intellectual disabilities (IDG) and 7 mental-age-matched healthy children (HCG) who participated in the same soccer program. We did not find any significant difference during walking in terms of speed, whereas speed differences were found during running (p=.001). Upper body accelerations were altered in a pathology-specific manner during the dual task: the performance of subjects with autistic disorders was compromised while running and controlling the ball with the feet. Differences in upright locomotor patterns between IDG and HCG emerged during more demanding motor tasks in terms of a loss in the capacity of smoothing accelerations at the trunk level.
AB - There is an increasing interest about upper body accelerations during locomotion and how they are altered by physical impairments. Recent studies have demonstrated that cognitive impairments affect gait stability in the elderly (i.e., their capacity for smoothing upper body accelerations during walking) but little attention has been paid to young adults with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine upright stability in young adults with intellectual disabilities during walking, running, and dual-task running (playing soccer). To this aim a wearable trunk-mounted device that permits on-field assessment was used to quantify trunk acceleration of 18 male teenagers with intellectual disabilities (IDG) and 7 mental-age-matched healthy children (HCG) who participated in the same soccer program. We did not find any significant difference during walking in terms of speed, whereas speed differences were found during running (p=.001). Upper body accelerations were altered in a pathology-specific manner during the dual task: the performance of subjects with autistic disorders was compromised while running and controlling the ball with the feet. Differences in upright locomotor patterns between IDG and HCG emerged during more demanding motor tasks in terms of a loss in the capacity of smoothing accelerations at the trunk level.
KW - Accelerometry
KW - Autism disorders
KW - Biomechanics
KW - Down syndrome
KW - Kinematic analysis
KW - Pervasive developmental disorders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899127571&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84899127571&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.humov.2014.02.005
DO - 10.1016/j.humov.2014.02.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 24630612
AN - SCOPUS:84899127571
VL - 34
SP - 187
EP - 195
JO - Human Movement Science
JF - Human Movement Science
SN - 0167-9457
IS - 1
ER -