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Motor dual-task effect on gait and task of upper limbs in older adults under specific task prioritization: pilot study

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Abstract

Background and aims

Performing multiple tasks simultaneously may result in reduced performance of subtasks (dual-task cost) particularly among old individuals. Subtask performance during dual tasking is also known to be affected by task prioritization. However, it has not been well studied how the performance of subtasks is affected during motor dual task in old adults compared to young when instructed to prioritize one task over the other. This study aims to investigate the dual-task effect on subtasks during motor dual tasking under specific instruction of task prioritization in old compared to young adults.

Methods

Sixteen independent old and 18 young adults performed two single tasks (usual walking, holding a tray as steady as possible while standing) and two dual tasks (walking while holding a tray focusing attention on keeping tray as steady as possible—WTAT, and walking while holding tray focusing attention on walking—WTAW). Gait parameters [velocity and variability (coefficient of variation, CV) of stride length] and the pitch (forward–backward) and roll (side-to-side) angles of the tray were measured during the four conditions.

Results

During the WTAT compared to single tasks, both young and old groups showed reduced gait velocity (β = −14.0 for old, −34.3 for young), increased gait variability (β = 0.19 for old, 0.51 for young), and increased tray tilt (β = 9.4 for old, 7.9 for young in pitch; β = 8.8 for old, 5.9 for young in roll). Higher proportion of older individuals showed higher dual-task effect on tray stability, but lower dual-task effect on gait compared to young individuals. During WTAW, there was no difference in dual-task effect between age groups in tray stability or gait performance.

Conclusions

Compared to young, older adults tend to compromise the task involving upper limbs during motor dual tasking even when instructed to prioritize this task over gait. These findings may have ramifications on developing training strategies to learn or relearn complex motor activities in seniors.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the study participants at United Hebrew of New Rochelle. We also thank Nora O’Brian, PT DPT, Linda Forman, Margaret Curran, Po-Ching Li, and Amy Park for help with recruitment, data collection and processing. Mooyeon Oh-Park is an Einstein Men’s Division Scholar partially supported through a National Institutes of Health ‘Clinical and Translational Science Award ‘(CTSA) grant UL1 RR025750 and KL2RR025749 from the National Center for Research Resources, a component of the National Institutes of Health, and National Institutes of Health roadmap for Medical Research.

Conflict of interest

We certify that no party having a direct interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on us or on any organization with which we are associated and, if applicable, we certify that all financial and material support for this research (eg, NIH or NHS grants) and work are clearly identified in the title page of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, 1165 Morris Park Avenue, Room 338, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Mooyeon Oh-Park

  2. Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Mooyeon Oh-Park, Roee Holtzer & Joe Verghese

  3. Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Roee Holtzer & Jeannette Mahoney

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Cuiling Wang

  5. Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, NY, USA

    Mooyeon Oh-Park

  6. Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Preeti Raghavan

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  1. Mooyeon Oh-Park
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Correspondence to Mooyeon Oh-Park.

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Oh-Park, M., Holtzer, R., Mahoney, J. et al. Motor dual-task effect on gait and task of upper limbs in older adults under specific task prioritization: pilot study. Aging Clin Exp Res 25, 99–106 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-013-0014-0

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