The Effects of Real-Time Haptic Feedback on Gait and Cognitive Load in Older Adults
Gait speed is a key indicator of mobility and health in older adults, with declines often reflecting neuromotor deficits rather than musculoskeletal or cardiopulmonary limitations. This study presents a wearable smartphone-based haptic feedback system that applies feedback to the thighs to increase...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IEEE
2025-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11030669/ |
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| Summary: | Gait speed is a key indicator of mobility and health in older adults, with declines often reflecting neuromotor deficits rather than musculoskeletal or cardiopulmonary limitations. This study presents a wearable smartphone-based haptic feedback system that applies feedback to the thighs to increase peak thigh extension (PTE) and, consequently, improve stride length and walking speed. Thirty community-dwelling older adults (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${79}.{9}~ {\pm }~{6}.{5}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> years) participated in this study. Three treatment conditions were evaluated: (1) tactile feedback due to incorrect response when PTE was below the target (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${F}_{\text {IR}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>); (2) tactile feedback due to correct response when the target PTE was met (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${F}_{\textit {CR} }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>); and (3) verbal instructions (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\boldsymbol {V}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) without feedback. Cognitive demand during treatment was assessed using a probe reaction time task. Walking trials comparing baseline with treatment conditions were conducted. We found significant differences for all gait parameters across walking trials (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathit {p} \lt {0}.{001}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), but no significant difference among the three treatment conditions. The haptic feedback system significantly increased stride length by 14% and gait speed by 18%. Gains in speed and stride length were achieved using the haptic system during a single session, comparable to following verbal instructions. Although no statistical difference was found across treatments, thigh feedback employed a different mechanism than verbal instructions for attaining greater speed. Adding haptic feedback increased reaction time, but these increases were small (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${F}_{\textit {IR} }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>: 27ms, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${F}_{\textit {CR} }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>: 74ms), indicating minimal cognitive load. The observed gait improvements suggest haptic feedback is a viable option for gait training for older adults. |
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| ISSN: | 1534-4320 1558-0210 |