Can optical flow perturbations detect walking balance impairment in people with multiple sclerosis?

ABSTRACT: People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) who exhibit minimal to no disability are still over twice as likely to fall as the general population and many of these falls occur during walking. There is a need for more effective ways to detect preclinical walking balance deficits in PwMS. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of optical flow perturbations applied using virtual reality on walking balance in PwMS compared to age-matched controls. We hypothesized that susceptibility to perturbations-especially those in the mediolateral direction-would be larger in PwMS compared to controls. Fourteen PwMS and fourteen age-matched controls walked on a treadmill while viewing a virtual hallway with and without optical flow perturbations in the mediolateral or anterior-poste

SUBMITTER: Selgrade BP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7064213 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature