Understanding ageing effects by approximate entropy analysis of gait variability

Chandan K Karmakar; Ahsan H Khandoker; Rezaul K Begg; Marimuthu Palaniswami; Simon Taylor

doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2007.4352703

Understanding ageing effects by approximate entropy analysis of gait variability

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2007:2007:1965-8. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2007.4352703.

Authors

Chandan K Karmakar¹, Ahsan H Khandoker, Rezaul K Begg, Marimuthu Palaniswami, Simon Taylor

Affiliation

¹ Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. c.karmakar@ee.unimelb.edu.au

PMID: 18002369
DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2007.4352703

Abstract

Ageing influences gait patterns which in turn affects the control mechanism of human locomotor balance. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between approximate entropy (ApEn) and standard deviation (SD) of a gait variable (minimum toe clearance, MTC) for young and elderly gait patterns. MTC data of 30 healthy young (HY), 27 healthy elderly (HE) and 10 falls risk (FR) elderly subjects with balance problems were analyzed. The ApEn values of MTC were significantly correlated with SD of MTC in the three groups; however, such correlations were abolished in the randomly shuffled MTC data of HE and HY group. These findings have implications of understanding ageing effect on gait variability and the likely risks of tripping falls during gait. Results are also potentially useful for the early diagnosis of common gait pathologies.

MeSH terms

Accidental Falls / prevention & control
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Aging*
Biomechanical Phenomena / methods*
Biomedical Engineering / instrumentation*
Biomedical Engineering / methods
Entropy
Gait Disorders, Neurologic / diagnosis*
Gait*
Humans
Models, Statistical
Postural Balance
Reproducibility of Results
Walking