Occupational load carrying tasks are considered one of the major factors contributing to slip and fall injuries. The objective of the current study was to explore the feasibility to assess the stability changes associated with load carrying by local dynamic stability measures. Twenty-five young participants were involved in a treadmill walking study, with their trunk acceleration profiles measured wirelessly by a tri-axial accelerometer. Finite time local dynamic stability was quantified by maximum Lyapunov exponents (maxLE). The results showed a significant increase in long term maxLE in load condition, indicating the declined local dynamic stability due to the load carrying. Thus, current study confirmed the discriminative validity and sensitivity of local dynamic stability measure and its utility in the load carrying scenario.
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