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Background: Falls are a significant source of morbidity and mortality in older adults, with up to 53% of these falls due to tripping. To aid in preventing trip-related falls, the factors that increase an individual's risk of falling following a trip must be identified. This study investigated whether an older adult's gait influences their risk of failing following a trip.Methods: Trips were induced during gait in 79 healthy, safety-harnessed, community-dwelling older adults using a concealed, mechanical obstacle. Associations between selected gait kinematic characteristics, recorded during normal walking, and the likelihood of falling following the trip were determined using logistic regression.Results: Older adults who walked faster, took more rapid steps, or took longer steps relative to their body height had a significantly increased likelihood of falling following the trip. Step width, average trunk flexion during gait, and the phase of gait in which the trip occurred did not affect the likelihood of falling. A multivariable logistic regression model correctly classified 89.8% of trip outcomes based on two gait characteristics: step time and step length. As predicted from their gait characteristics, the subjects, as a group, had a low likelihood of falling following a trip, but selected individuals had a high likelihood of falling.Conclusions: The incidence of trip-related falls in healthy older adults is determined primarily by the frequency of tripping and not the ability to recover from a trip. Older adults can reduce their likelihood of falling following a trip by not hurrying while walking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Falls are a significant source of morbidity and mortality in older adults, with up to 53% of these falls due to tripping. To aid in fall prevention, there is a need to identify the factors that determine whether a trip is recoverable and those factors that increase an older adult's risk of falling.Methods: Trips were induced during gait in 79 healthy, community-dwelling, safety-harnessed older adults (50 women) using a concealed, mechanical obstacle. Trip outcomes were graded as recoveries, falls, rope-assists, or misses. Kinematics were recorded during normal gait, without and with the safety harness. Selected gait parameters were compared to determine whether the experimental conditions affected gait at the time of the trip.Results: Thirty-nine trip outcomes were classified as recoveries, 10 as falls, 12 as rope-assists, and 18 as misses. Women fell more than four times as frequently as men. Women younger than 70 years fell more than three times as frequently as those older. Trip outcomes in the men were essentially unaffected by age. The foot obstructed to induce the trip did not affect the trip outcome. The presence of the safety harness had almost no effect on gait. The length of the stride preceding the trip did not differ from normal.Conclusions: The majority of trips in healthy older adults did not result in falls. Older women were more likely than men to fall following a trip. The likelihood of falling from a trip was greatest in the youngest older women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]