Role of Upper Limbs: Slip-induced Falls

The purpose of this study was to examine the upper limb motions after a slip event. The study focused on examining relationships between arm motions and a regain of stability. A slippery surface was introduced unexpectedly while participants (younger or older adults) were walking at their preferred pace wearing the safety harness. The synchronized ground reaction force and body position data were obtained while they were slipping and recovering. The focus of this study was to examine the upper limbs (arms) kinematics while slipping over a slippery floor surface. It was believed that the arm movements would be used to improve imbalance produced by the inadvertent slipping. In particular, it was hypothesized that the involuntary arm motions while slipping was created in attempt to move the body center of mass forward, resulting in an improvement in the imbalance. The upper limb kinematic data was used to calculate the center of mass and acceleration of the upper limb. Along with the role of the upper limb, the different phases of recovery after the slip was studied and characterized. The data was analyzed using Matlab and a statistical analysis tool (JMP). The results were discussed in light of the 3-D kinematics of the arm movements and recovery categorization. In conclusion, the present study suggested that the upper limbs’ movements created during slipping contributed to an enhancement of individual’s recovery possibility from an inadvertent slip.