The Differential Effect of First‐Time Single‐Point Cane Use between Healthy Young and Older Adults

Background: Walking aids are often introduced to older adults to enable independent mobility. Single-point canes are the most common device used. Benefits are tempered by research suggesting that walking aids increase fall risk. A better understanding of the effect of walking aid use on gait performance is required. Objective: To evaluate differences in the effect of initial single-point cane use on gait between younger (YAs) and older adults (OAs). Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Community-dwelling. Participants: Twenty-six YAs (mean age ± standard deviation [SD]: 23.7 ± 2.8 years) and 25 OAs (mean age ± SD: 70.8 ± 14.1 years) participated. Inclusion criteria were 18 to 35 years of age for YAs or ≥50 years for OAs, be able to ambulate unassisted, and without any condition affecting mobility. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s): Gait velocity and stride time variability under different walking path configurations (straight path, Groningen Meander Walking Test, Figure-of-8 Walk Test) and conditions (unassisted walking, walking with a single-point cane, and walking with a single-point cane while completing a cognitive task) were recorded in a laboratory. The arithmetic task of subtracting 1s from 100 was used as the secondary cognitive task. Data analysis included separate three-way mixed analyses of variance (ANOVAs; path/condition/group). Results: There was a statistically significant two-way interaction between walking path and condition for velocity (P