Muscle Activity Restriction Taping Technique simulates the reduction in foot-ground clearance in the elderly

The reduced foot-ground clearance manifested in the healthy elderly is a major cause of tripping, potentially resulting in the loss of balance and falling. Hence, there is a critical need to study the foot-ground clearance deficiencies in the elderly. However, such studies are limited by the risks posed by experimental conditions to the health and safety of this population. As a solution, the present study proposes a new Muscle Activity Restriction Taping Technique (MARTT) to simulate the reduced foot-ground clearance of the elderly in healthy young adults. MARTT aims to restrict the range of contraction of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles involved in the ankle´s dorsal and plantar flexion, respectively. The effectiveness of MARTT in simulating the reduced foot-ground clearance in continuous walking was verified in three young adults during treadmill and overground walking. The results revealed that MARTT could successfully simulate the reduced clearance, specifically the minimum toe clearance (MTC), and other gait characteristics of the healthy elderly, such as reduced single-support phase, shortened step length, and lower walking speed.