Article

Falls during stair descent are a serious problem and can lead to accidental
death. Inappropriate foot placement on, and clearance over, steps have been
identified as causes for falls on stairs. This study investigated a new method
for measuring placement and clearance during stair descent in 10 healthy young
subjects. The effect of foot length was accounted for during the measurement of
foot placement by calculating the percentage length of the foot overhanging the
step. Foot clearance was measured as the resultant of the minimum vertical and
horizontal distances from the heel of the foot to the edge of the step. Clearance
was divided into landing and passing clearance depending on the planned placement
of the foot in relation to the step edge being cleared. Each subject performed
seven trials of stairs descent. Mean (SD) and CV (SD) were 16% (6), 0.28 (0.15)
for placement; 45.88 (10.05), 0.21 (0.07) for landing clearance; 107.25 (5.59),
0.25 (0.08) for passing clearance. There was no statistically significant effect
of trial on placement and clearance (p>0.05). There was a significant effect of
step number on landing and passing clearance (p=0.01,
p<0.001 respectively).
Landing and passing clearances were greater for the third step compared to the
second step. Passing clearance was also significantly greater than landing clearance (p<0.001).
The repeatable methods and findings from this study might be
useful in providing a technical background and normal values for the design of
future gait studies on stairs.
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Langue : ANGLAIS