Older Adult Stability in Prioritized Dual Tasks

Date of Award

5-9-2026

Degree Name

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Advisor/Chair

Kimberly Bigelow

Abstract

Multitasking often involves divided attention that can interfere with postural stability, potentially affecting balance in older adults. While dual tasking paradigms involving balance have been examined in past research, the specific impact of which of the dual tasks is prioritized during quiet standing remains under-explored. The primary goal was to analyze the effect of task prioritization on balance during motor-cognitive dual tasking using a serial subtraction task. It was hypothesized that prioritizing the motor task (balance) would reduce center of pressure mean velocity (“better” balance). Secondary goals included evaluating the roles of gender and age, with the hypothesis that women and older participants would exhibit poorer balance performance during dual tasking. The study included 33 healthy older adults (ages 55–89; 13 females, 20 males). Participants performed 60-second narrow stance balance assessments on flat and foam surfaces under three conditions: quiet, counting upward ("talking effect"), and serial subtraction (counting backward by 3s) with varying instructions on which task to prioritize. Statistical analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in balance or counting performance found between specific prioritization instructions. Men demonstrated significantly higher sway velocity than women in all conditions but produced significantly more cognitive output during serial subtraction (p < 0.001). Age-related declines were significant, with "Older Adults" showing poorer balance than "Older Middle-Aged Adults" during the “talking effect” and self-prioritization tasks. In conclusion, it was found that there were no significant differences between any of the dual-tasking conditions (self-prioritized, balance-prioritized, or counting-prioritized). Surprisingly, there was also no significant difference between the simpler act of counting upwards by 1s (“talking effect”) and any of the dual tasks, suggesting the balance task may have been quite challenging to most individuals. It was also found that, contrary to the hypothesis, women maintained better balance than men, though men exhibited stronger cognitive output. The results confirm that dual tasking negatively impacts balance compared to a baseline single tasking situation, but for our paradigm, there was no difference between the difficulty of the cognitive task or what was prioritized. The findings suggest that older adults should be encouraged to limit multitasking if possible. Future research should include more sedentary populations to further distinguish these trends.

Keywords

Biomechanics, Mechanical Engineering

Comments

OCLC No. 1591818539

Rights Statement

Copyright 2026, author.

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