{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T11:42:00Z","timestamp":1779882120260,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,23]],"date-time":"2025-05-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747958400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000009","name":"Foundation for the National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R21AG067388"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21AG067388"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000009","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The purpose of this study was to examine the kinematic differences in minimum toe clearance (MTC), a risk factor for falls, between older and younger adults during habitual walking and treadmill-induced slip perturbations.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Data from 28 older adults and 30 younger adults were analyzed for this study. Each subject was fitted with whole-body retroreflective markers for 3D motion capture and walked habitually and while responding to treadmill-induced slip perturbations. Minimum toe clearance and leg joint kinematics were obtained and compared between groups and across conditions.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>There was no difference in MTC between age groups during habitual walking (Older: 5.75\u2009\u00b1\u20091.08\u2009cm, Younger: 5.45\u2009\u00b1\u20090.93\u2009cm, p\u2009=\u20090.125). Independent of age, MTC increased significantly in response to treadmill-induced slips (p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). However, significant age\u2009\u00d7\u2009condition interactions revealed that older adults increased MTC significantly less than younger adults in response to treadmill-induced slips. Older adults walked with significantly less knee flexion (31.4\u2009\u00b1\u20099.9\u00b0 vs. 41.3\u2009\u00b1\u200911.9\u00b0; p\u2009&lt;\u20090.001) and significantly more hip internal rotation (6.5\u2009\u00b1\u20096.3\u00b0 vs. 3.8\u2009\u00b1\u20096.3\u00b0; p\u2009=\u20090.004) than younger adults during slip perturbations.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study builds on prior work to conclude that, compared to younger adults, older adults appear to have a diminished capacity to instinctively increase MTC during walking in response to slip-like balance perturbations, which may allow them lesser time to accommodate instability.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0323307","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,23]],"date-time":"2025-05-23T17:40:57Z","timestamp":1748022057000},"page":"e0323307","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The impact of slip perturbations on minimum toe clearance during walking in younger and older adults"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Aaron M.","family":"Gelinne","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew D.","family":"Shelton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9523-9708","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jason 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