{"doi":"10.1038/s41598-024-64293-0","title":"Functional lower extremity strength influences stepping strategy in community-dwelling older adults during single and dual-task walking","abstract":"As age increases, a decline in lower extremity strength leads to reduced mobility and increased fall risks. This decline outpaces the age-related reduction in muscle mass, resulting in mobility limitations. Older adults with varying degrees of mobility-disability use different stepping strategies. However, the link between functional lower extremity strength and stepping strategy is unknown. Therefore, understanding how age-related reductions in functional lower extremity strength influence stepping strategy is vital to unraveling mobility limitations. Twenty participants (17F, 72 ± 6 years) were recruited and tested at a local community event. Participants were outfitted with inertial measurement units (IMU) and walked across a pressurized walkway under single and dual motor task conditions (walking with and without carrying a tray with water) at their usual and fast speeds. Participants were dichotomized into normal (11) or low functional strength groups (9) based on age-specific normative cutoffs using the instrumented 5-repetition Sit-to-Stand test duration. Our study reveals that older adults with normal strength prefer adjusting their step time during walking tasks, while those with reduced strength do not exhibit a preferred stepping strategy. This study provides valuable insights into the influence of functional lower extremity strength on stepping strategy in community-dwelling older adults during simple and complex walking tasks. These findings could aid in diagnosing gait deviations and developing appropriate treatment or management plans for mobility disability in older adults.","journal":"Scientific Reports","year":2024,"id":438515,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":10,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9592,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1249202,"name":"Kenneth Harrison","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1248663,"name":"Keven Santamaría-Guzmán","orcid":"0000-0002-8198-6603","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1249203,"name":"Silvia Campos-Vargas","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1100420,"name":"Patrick G. Monaghan","orcid":"0009-0001-1151-7000","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":711510,"name":"Jaimie A. Roper","orcid":"0000-0002-8760-8881","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1249201,"name":"Brandon M. Peoples","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":36,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:00:43.618468Z","pmid":"38862689","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}