The Relationship Between Dual-task Gait Performance, Physical Activity Levels, Sleep and Aging in Healthy Adults

The co-ordination and control of body segments are integral in providing and maintaining postural stability. It is widely accepted that attentional demands for postural control are placed upon the individual, but these vary according to the nature of the task, the age of the individual and their postural stability. It is thought that divided attention (a technique whereby two tasks are performed at the same time whilst rapidly switching attention between the two tasks) is commonly used when multi-tasking. Divided attention may have important clinical implications to falls risk, in that older adults that experience falls have increased difficulty in switching attention between tasks such as walking and talking. Dual tasking paradigms which present postural and cognitive tasks are often used to test attentional demands for posture control and interference between the two tasks. At present it is not known what impact balance confidence, sleep, activity levels or cognitive ability impact on a person's ability to multi-task when performing complex walking tasks that reflect the complexity of mobilising in real-life situations.

The co-ordination and control of body segments are integral in providing and maintaining postural stability. It is widely accepted that attentional demands for postural control are placed upon the individual, but these vary according to the nature of the task, the age of the individual and their postural stability. It is thought that divided attention (a technique whereby two tasks are performed at the same time whilst rapidly switching attention between the two tasks) is commonly used when multi-tasking. Divided attention may have important clinical implications to falls risk, in that older adults that experience falls have increased difficulty in switching attention between tasks such as walking and talking. Dual tasking paradigms which present postural and cognitive tasks are often used to test attentional demands for posture control and interference between the two tasks. At present it is not known what impact balance confidence, sleep, activity levels or cognitive ability impact on a person's ability to multi-task when performing complex walking tasks that reflect the complexity of mobilising in real-life situations.

The proposed study aims to investigate, in healthy adults aged between 18-80 years old, a) the effect of combining functional gait tasks with different types of dual-tasks and cognitive task categories on total Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) score (primary task), and task prioritisation; b) the relationship between FGA single and dual task performance, age, sleep and PA levels; c) the relationship between age, balance confidence, psychological symptoms and sleep with functional gait single and dual task performance, cognitive function, quality of life and PA levels.

Principle Research Questions:

* What is the effect of dual-task type and/or cognitive task category on FGA performance (primary task), gait speed and task prioritisation?
* What is the relationship between age, balance confidence, psychological symptoms, quality of life and sleep with FGA single and dual task performance, cognitive function and PA levels in healthy adults?

Hypothesis:

1. Cognitive dual tasks will affect performance of the primary FGA task, gait speed and task prioritisation more than an auditory dual task.
2. A more sedentary lifestyle, increasing age, poorer sleep state, balance confidence and/or lower (i.e. poorer performance) cognitive function test scores will affect performance on FGA dual task performance.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* community-dwelling healthy adults
* aged 18-80 years old
* independently mobile.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Individuals have a central nervous system disorder vestibular disorder and/or acute orthopaedic/musculoskeletal disorder affecting balance control and/or gait
* individuals with lack of a good grasp of written and spoken English language.