The dynamic stability of older adults was affected by the motor dual task during turning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamic stability of healthy older adults during turning under the dual task condition. A total of 16 healthy older adults were recruited and asked to perform a single walking task and a dual motor walking task. Kinematic data were collected by using an eight-camera motion capture system. The margin of stability was calculated based on these kinematic data. Pair t-test was performed to test the significant difference between two tasks. The minimum medial margin of stability (MoS) at the end of single support during the turning step significantly decreased, while the maximum posterior MoS significantly increased. This finding indicated that older adults adopted a cautious strategy at the posterior direction but faced a medial fall risk under the motor dual task condition.