Can use of walkers or canes impede lateral compensatory stepping movements?
Although assistive devices, such as walkers and canes are often prescribed to aid in balance control, recent studies have suggested that such devices may actually increase risk of falling. In this study, we investigated one possible mechanism: the potential for walkers or canes to interfere with, or constrain, lateral movement of the feet and thereby impede execution of compensatory stepping reactions during lateral loss of balance. Lateral stepping reactions were evoked, in 10 healthy young adults (ages 22-27 years), by means of sudden unpredictable medio-lateral support surface translation. Subjects were tested while holding and loading a standard pickup walker or single-tip cane or while using no assistive device (hands free or holding an object). Results supported the hypothesis that using a walker or cane can interfere with compensatory stepping. Collisions between the swing-foot and mobility aid were remarkably frequent when using the walker (60% of stepping reactions) and also o
