J Neuroeng Rehabil
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Falls in older adults during walking frequently occur while performing a concurrent task; that is, dividing attention to respond to other demands in the environment. A particularly hazardous fall-related event is tripping due to toe-ground contact during the swing phase of the gait cycle. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effects of divided attention on tripping risk by investigating the gait cycle event Minimum Toe Clearance (MTC). ⋯ In response to increased attention demands older adults preserve MTC_Height but exercise greater control of the critical MTC event by reducing variability in both MTC_Height and MTC_Time. A further adaptive locomotor control strategy to reduce the likelihood of toe-ground contacts is to attain higher mid-swing clearance by eliminating the MTC event, i.e. demonstrating non-MTC gaits cycles.