UMaine study helps older Mainers maintain balance and avoid falls
WRITTEN BY JUDY HARRISON
Ongoing studies at the University of Maine are helping older residents maintain their balance and increase their pace while walking in an effort to help them avoid falling.
About 13 percent of older adults between 65 and 69 say they have trouble with balance. That percentage rises to nearly 46 percent for people 85 and older.
Every year about 28 percent of people over 65 experience a fall. Avoiding falls is a big health concern for older adults since they account for about 56 percent of accidental deaths and is a leading cause of accidental injuries in that age group.
UMaine’s Biomedical Engineering Program, a division of the College of Engineering and Computing, has created a device that reminds walkers to swing their arms, which helps a person maintain balance and increase walking speed. Walking faster increases the health of the cardio-vascular system.
“You use your arms for balance, so using the arms when walking is very important,” Ines Khiyara, a PhD candidate, said in a video explaining how the device, which is worn on the upper arms, works. “The device sends vibrations on the arms and sends a certain rhythm the person has to follow.”
Khiyara was born in Belgium and came to the University of Maine to study biomedical engineering. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees before pursuing her doctorate.
She conducted a study in the summer of 2023 with 20 volunteers who wore the devices on each arm while walking on the indoor track at the New Balance Field House.
The results of that study were published in the Biomedical Engineering Society journal.
The device resembles a blood pressure cuff with small metal discs that vibrate against the skin. Using the cues from the devices, participants increased their gait speed by 18.2 percent, and when it was decreased, gait speed went down by 12.3 percent, according to the findings.
Kay Voyer, who walks every day, volunteered for the study.
“For me, having the most efficiency, swinging my arms works,” she said in the video. “I noticed when I was swinging my arms whenever I was walking I was more balanced and I didn’t feel like I was going to fall over.”
The ultimate goal is to have the device commercially available so that people could use it to train on their own and hopefully prevent an abnormal gait that could lead to a fall, according to Khiyara.
Khiyara also is researching how the brain relays signals from the device to the body. Her next study will focus on how the angle of the arms when they are swinging impacts an individual’s gait.
Khiyara is seeking volunteers over the age of 65 who will be in the area over the winter and can walk for 20 minutes without fear of falling. People interested in volunteering may apply by emailing [email protected].
