PMID- 16124880
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20090423
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 1743-0003 (Electronic)
IS  - 1743-0003 (Linking)
VI  - 2
DP  - 2005 Aug 28
TI  - Shedding light on walking in the dark: the effects of reduced lighting on the 
      gait of older adults with a higher-level gait disorder and controls.
PG  - 27
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of reduced lighting on the gait of older adults 
      with a high level gait disorder (HLGD) and to compare their response to that of 
      healthy elderly controls. METHODS: 22 patients with a HLGD and 20 age-matched 
      healthy controls were studied under usual lighting conditions (1000 lumens) and 
      in near darkness (5 lumens). Gait speed and gait dynamics were measured under 
      both conditions. Cognitive function, co-morbidities, depressive symptoms, and 
      vision were also evaluated. RESULTS: Under usual lighting conditions, patients 
      walked more slowly, with reduced swing times, and increased stride-to-stride 
      variability, compared to controls. When walking under near darkness conditions, 
      both groups slowed their gait. All other measures of gait were not affected by 
      lighting in the controls. In contrast, patients further reduced their swing times 
      and increased their stride-to-stride variability, both stride time variability 
      and swing time variability. The unique response of the patients was not explained 
      by vision, mental status, co-morbidities, or the values of walking under usual 
      lighting conditions. CONCLUSION: Walking with reduced lighting does not affect 
      the gait of healthy elderly subjects, except for a reduction in speed. On the 
      other hand, the gait of older adults with a HLGD becomes more variable and 
      unsteady when they walk in near darkness, despite adapting a slow and cautious 
      gait. Further work is needed to identify the causes of the maladaptive response 
      among patients with a HLGD and the potential connection between this behavior and 
      the increased fall risk observed in these patients.
FAU - Kesler, Anat
AU  - Kesler A
AD  - Department of Neurology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. 
      kesler@netvision.net.il
FAU - Leibovich, Gregory
AU  - Leibovich G
FAU - Herman, Talia
AU  - Herman T
FAU - Gruendlinger, Leor
AU  - Gruendlinger L
FAU - Giladi, Nir
AU  - Giladi N
FAU - Hausdorff, Jeffrey M
AU  - Hausdorff JM
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20050828
PL  - England
TA  - J Neuroeng Rehabil
JT  - Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation
JID - 101232233
PMC - PMC1236955
EDAT- 2005/08/30 09:00
MHDA- 2005/08/30 09:01
PMCR- 2005/08/28
CRDT- 2005/08/30 09:00
PHST- 2005/04/05 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2005/08/28 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2005/08/30 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/08/30 09:01 [medline]
PHST- 2005/08/30 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2005/08/28 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 1743-0003-2-27 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/1743-0003-2-27 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2005 Aug 28;2:27. doi: 10.1186/1743-0003-2-27.