A Comparative Study of Single Versus Dual Cognitive Tasks on Spatio-temporal Gait Variables in Children

Background

Cognitive processing plays an important role in motor performance. Attention is defined as the information processing capacity of an individual. In dual-task paradigms, individuals are asked to perform two tasks simultaneously. The specific objective of the study is to evaluate the difference between spatio-temporal gait variables in single motor task versus dual tasks condition in which motor task is combined with the performance of a cognitive task.

Methods

This is a Descriptive study. 100 children were selected. Each subject performed the following single and dual walking tasks: walking alone, walking while identifying pictures of common objects (visual identification), walking while identifying sounds (auditory identification). Gait speed, cadence, and step length were compared among the three gait tasks using analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Major Findings

Gait speed was lower under both dual-task conditions compared to the single-task walking condition. Both cadence and step length decreased with concurrent performance of the visual and auditory identification tasks. The obtained F value was significant at the level of p<0.05.