The Ability of Elderly People to Traverse Slippery Walking Surfaces

Abstract

The experiment reported in this paper is a comparison of the biomechanical parameters associated with the gait of younger and older subjects walking over slippery and non - slippery floor surfaces. The parameters compared include stride length, ground reaction force (required coefficient of friction), micro-slip distance, and heel velocity. The results indicate a significant difference in subjective assessments of floor slipperiness and biomechanical parameters of waking such as slip distance, stride length, heel velocity, and required coefficient of friction between younger and older individuals.