Postural stability during dual- and triple-task conditions: The effect of different levels of physical fitness in older adults

Objectives. — Postural stability is showed to decline with age and to be particularly challenging for older people during multitasking activities. However, the effect of different levels of physical fitness on postural stability performances during multitasking remains unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the impact of dual-task (DT) and triple-task (TT)performances on postural stability among older adults with a different level of physical fitness(i.e., master cyclists and physically active), and to compare them with healthy untrained older and young adults. Equipment and methods. — Seven master cyclists (mean age 70 ± 3 years), 7 physically active older adults (mean age 73 ± 1 year) 10 untrained older adults (mean age 73 ± 3 years) and 10untrained young adults (mean age 25 ± 2 years) participated in the study. Data were recorded during: 1) a quiet upright stance task (single-task) and while performing an additional (dual-task), 2) manual, 3) cognitive task, or 4) manual and cognitive task concurrently (triple-task). Area and Perimeter described by the center of pressure and mean velocity in anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions were analyzed. Results. — Generally, a decrease in postural stability variables (area, perimeter, mean velocity in anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions) was observed during dual and triple-task in all groups (all P values < 0.05). A general worse postural stability was observed in untrained older adults compared to young adults in manual and cognitive DT. Moreover, untrained older group showed worse values in area, perimeter, mean velocity in anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions related to untrained young group (percentage differences: 243.3, 76.4, 107.7and 51.1% respectively, all P values < 0.05) during triple-task performance. Additionally, the results showed a trend toward better postural stability of master cyclists and physically active older adults compared to untrained older adults in single-rather than in dual- and triple-task performance. Conclusion. —The results underlined that to be a cyclist or to be physically active during aging are beneficial to maintain postural stability during multitasking activity and consequently to decrease the risk of falling observed in aging.