Vibrotactile somatosensory stimulus to assist the transition from level walking to stair ascent in the elderly: a pilot study

Table 3 Support moment parameters depending on the frequency of the VSS in the elderly

		Elderly Non-Stimulus	Elderly 180 Hz Stimulus	Elderly 190 Hz Stimulus	Elderly 250 Hz Stimulus
Support Moment	SM	0.446 ± 0.189	*0.481 ± 0.195^bc	*0.484 ± 0.202^ac	*0.473 ± 0.195^ab
	Z-value*		−5.785	−5.847	− 5.354
	p value*		p < 0.001	p < 0.001	p < 0.001
	Z-value^a,b,c		−2.643	−4.916	−5.696
	p value^a,b,c		0.008^b	p < 0.001^c	p < 0.001^a

Mean ± Standard deviation, Unit: N∙m/kg (Newton meters/kilogram)
Z-value Wilcoxon signed rank test
^* indicates significant difference between Non-Stimulus and Stimulus (p < 0.05)
^a indicates significant difference from 180 Hz stimulus (p < 0.05)
^b indicates significant difference from 190 Hz stimulus (p < 0.05)
^c indicates significant difference from 250 Hz stimulus (p < 0.05)

ISSN: 1471-2474