Do aging suits adequately simulate objective age-related decline in gait?: A kinematic comparison of induced aging in young and middle-aged adults
Aging suits are widely used as arguably didactic tool to foster understanding for age-related challenges in healthcare training by mimicking physical impairments associated with aging. However, effects on functional levels are ambiguous and necessitating validation of their potential to simulate age...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2026
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| In: |
Educational gerontology
Year: 2026, Volume: 52, Issue: 1, Pages: 26-40 |
| ISSN: | 1521-0472 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03601277.2025.2468470 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2025.2468470
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| Author Notes: | Thomas H. Gerhardy, Laura I. Schmidt, Hans-Werner Wahl, Katja Mombaur & Lizeth H. Sloot |
| Summary: | Aging suits are widely used as arguably didactic tool to foster understanding for age-related challenges in healthcare training by mimicking physical impairments associated with aging. However, effects on functional levels are ambiguous and necessitating validation of their potential to simulate age-related walking impairments. We evaluated effects of wearing an aging suit on kinematic gait variables, in younger and middle-aged adults in different walking conditions. Available reference data were used to compare aging-suit induced effects to standard and dual-task walking in older adults. Whole-body kinematics (sagittal ankle-, knee-, hip-angles, arm-swing, trunk-bend) and spatiotemporal parameters (walking speed, stride length, step width) were measured in 14 young (20-34 years) and 15 middle-aged adults (40-63 years). SPM analysis and mixed ANOVA were conducted to evaluate the effects of the suit, age-group and their interaction. Overall, wearing the aging suit changed gait patterns, but kinematic parameters were hardly affected in both groups. During standard walking, arm-swing decreased by 17%, walking speed by 9%, and step width increased by 15% across both groups. Compared to reference data, changes in arm-swing corresponded to an instant aging effect of 45-55 years in young and 15-25 years in middle-aged adults. The aging suit changed gait patterns considerably making both groups walk more cautiously compared to reference values of older adults. However, performance deficits seen in individuals 80+ years were clearly not attained. Caution is advised when using aging suits as an educational tool to simulate age-related walking impairments. |
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| Item Description: | Veröffentlicht online: 03 Mar 2025 Gesehen am 25.09.2025 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1521-0472 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03601277.2025.2468470 |