정상 및 비만 노인 보행의 발 접촉시간 특성 연구

Abstract

Obesity is rapidly increasing among the elderly, and the probability of injuries and falls increases with obesity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out how the foot contact time differs by section in the stance phase of normal and obese elderly people, and what interaction is occured between gait velocity(GV) and foot contact time within each of normal group(NG) and obese group(OG). Thirty men and women over the age of 65(each NG and OG were fifteen) who had no inconveniences in their daily lives participated in the study, and those with a body mass index(BMI) of 25 or more were classified as OG. On a 6m gait path, foot contact time was measured for each section based on GV and plantar pressure for a 4m section where sufficient GV was achieved. Regarding the contact time of each foot step, the contact time of each phase was normalized by percent(%). The foot step were divided into Initial Contact Phase(IC), Forefoot Contact Phase(FC), Foot Flat Phase(FF), and Forefoot Push Off Phase(FP). Independent sample -test was performed for the two groups, NG and OG, and correlation analysis was performed for each section of GV and stance phase within each group. Statistical significance level(α) was set at .05. NG showed a higher left IC(%) than OG(=.05) in comparison. In order to increase GV, NG decreased right FF and increased right FP(<.05). On the other hand, in OG, left FP increased, right FF decreased, and right FP increased. And a strategy of increasing GV while simultaneously decreasing stability was used(<.05). A gait characteristics of OG were revealed, and these gait characteristics can be applied to programs for gait correction or fall prevention in OG.