Estudo dinamométrico da marcha de idosas ultrapassando obstáculos

The present study aimed to investigate gait during the negotiation of obstacles
physically active and sedentary elderly women to identify the adaptations made by both groups faced with a more complex gait task. 20 healthy elderly women participated in the study, divided between active group and sedentary group. A force platform was used to evaluate the component vertical orthogonal of ground reaction forces: maximum and minimum forces, vertical thrust and
support time. These variables were analyzed during two different protocols: free walking and obstacle march with heights of 10%, 20% and 30% of the length of the lower limb of the volunteers. The obstacle was positioned before and after the platform so that two different functions of the same lower limb were investigated. The results are presented in three sections: the first evaluates the two groups (there was no significant difference), the second evaluates the effect of height of the obstacle (where a height of 10% already presents itself as a challenging obstacle for elderly women sedentary) and the third compares the primary and secondary support functions (there was no difference significant). It is concluded, for the sample used, that physical activity helped in negotiating
obstacles while walking. Sedentary elderly women opted for a safer negotiation strategy of obstacles, observed by the smaller magnitudes of the dynamometric variables together with with longer support time.