Oates Alison

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Saskatchewan

Background Understanding the factors that influence walking is important as quantitative walking assessments have potential to inform health risk assessments. Wearable technology innovation has enabled quantitative walking assessments to be conducted in different settings. Understanding how different settings influence quantitative walking performa...

The attentional capacity required of haptic modalities while obstacle crossing may limit their effectiveness. Therefore, this study examined the attentional demands of haptic modalities during obstacle crossing. Nineteen healthy young adults walked across a 10 m laboratory floor within two modality blocks using either: 1) light touch on a railing,...

Athletes regularly face the possibility of failing to meet expectations in training and competition, and it is essential that they are equipped with strategies to facilitate coping after receiving performance feedback. Self-compassion is a potential resource to help athletes manage the various setbacks that arise in sport over and above other psych...

Stroke is a leading cause of severe disability that often presents with unilateral motor impairment. Conventional rehabilitation approaches focus on motor practice of the affected limb and aim to suppress brain activity in the contralesional hemisphere to facilitate ipsilesional hemispheric neuroplasticity subserving motor recovery. Previous resear...

Background Up to 83% of individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) experience ≥ 1 fall/year. Individuals with iSCI employ more cautious walking strategies than able-bodied (AB) individuals during normal walking. Whether individuals with iSCI can use proactive balance strategies to adapt to expected slip perturbations/reduce slip severity...

Background Training balance through exercise is an effective strategy to reduce falls in community-dwelling older adults. Evidence-based fall prevention exercise recommendations have been proposed, specifying that exercise programs should: (1) provide a high challenge to balance, (2) be offered for a least three hours per week, (3) be provided on a...

Objective To evaluate test-retest reliability, agreement, and convergent validity of the Lean-and-Release test for the assessment of reactive stepping among individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury or disease (iSCI/D). Design Multi-center cross-sectional multiple test design. Setting SCI/D rehabilitation hospital and biomechanics laboratory...

Objective To determine whether performance on measures of lower extremity muscle strength, sensory function, postural control, gait speed and balance self-efficacy could distinguish fallers from non-fallers among ambulatory individuals with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D). Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Community. Participants Tw...

Prospective cross-sectional study To investigate the effect of adding haptic input during walking in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). Research laboratory. Participants with iSCI and age- and sex-matched able-bodied (AB) individuals walked normally (SCI n = 18, AB n = 17) and in tandem (SCI n = 12, AB n = 17). Haptic input was...

Background Frequent falls while walking among individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury may suggest impairments in reactive balance control; however, reactive balance control during walking has not been studied in this population. The objective was to compare reactive balance control with respect to changes in margin of stability, onset of arm...

This study examined the effect of descriptive norm messaging information on the relationship between haptic input and balance control. Participants were randomly assigned to either a message group where they balanced with haptic input after receiving a descriptive norm message about the positive effect of haptic input or a control group. Findings f...

Study design A prospective, observational study. Objectives To assess the attentional demands of using haptic modalities during walking using a multi-task paradigm in young, healthy adults. Setting Biomechanics of Balance and Movement (BBAM) Lab, University of Saskatchewan. Methods Twenty-two (12 male) young, healthy adults performed walking tri...

Background: Effective fall prevention exercise for community-dwelling older adults requires (i) challenging balance exercise, (ii) offered at least 3 hrs/ week, and (iii) on an ongoing basis, to reduce falls. Community exercise programs are a potential implementation strategy for fall prevention exercise; however, the extent to which they address...

Background: Adding haptic input by lightly touching a railing or using haptic anchors may improve walking balance control. Typical use of the railing(s) and haptic anchors requires the use of one and two arms in an extended position, respectively. It is unclear whether it is arm configuration and/or the number of arms used or the addition of senso...

Hoffmann (H‐) reflex amplitudes in plantar flexor soleus muscle are modulated by posture, yet dorsiflexor tibialis anterior (TA) H‐reflex parameters have sparingly been studied. The purpose was to investigate modulation of the TA H‐reflex when postural demands are increased from sitting to standing. In this study, data from 18 participants (Age: 25...

Adding haptic input may improve balance control and help prevent falls in older adults. This study examined the effects of added haptic input via light touch on a railing while walking. Participants ( N = 53, 75.9 ± 7.9 years) walked normally or in tandem (heel to toe) with and without haptic input. During normal walking, adding haptic input result...

Background: Ambulatory individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) experience frequent falls suggesting impairments in their balance control. Individuals with iSCI are more stable during normal walking as compared to able-bodied individuals; however, it is not known whether this increased stability helps prevent hazardous slips. Objecti...

Introduction Physical therapists (PTs) have an important role in identifying and treating individuals with balance impairments to help modify fall risk; however, gaps in comprehensive assessment of balance among practicing PTs have been consistently identified. As academic preparation influences clinical practice, identifying the balance measuremen...

Context Comprehensive balance measures with high clinical utility and sound psychometric properties are needed to inform the rehabilitation of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Objective To identify the balance measures used in the SCI population, and to evaluate their clinical utility, psychometric properties and comprehensiveness. Meth...

Balance control is essential for safe walking. Adding haptic input through light touch may improve walking balance; however, evidence is limited. This research investigated the effect of added haptic input through light touch in healthy young adults during challenging walking conditions. Sixteen individuals walked normally, in tandem, and on a comp...

Aims: The 10-meter walk test (10 mWT) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) are assessments of speed/time with a ceiling effect in pediatric populations. This study aimed to (1) determine whether collecting spatiotemporal data with inertial sensors (Mobility Lab, APDM Inc.) during these tests improves their discriminative validity, and (2) evaluate the clinic...

Context/Objective The study objectives were to evaluate the test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and discriminative validity of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). Design Prospective, cross-sectional study. Setting Laboratory. Participants Twenty-six community-...

Walking is an important component of daily life requiring sensorimotor integration to be successful. Adding haptic input via light touch or anchors has been shown to improve standing balance; however, the effect of adding haptic input on walking is not clear. This scoping review systematically summarizes the current evidence regarding the addition...

There are different ways to add haptic input during walking which may affect walking balance. This study compared the use of two different haptic tools (rigid railing and haptic anchors) and investigated whether any effects on walking were the result of the added sensory input and/or the posture generated when using those tools. Data from 28 young...

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the balance assessment practices of physiotherapists in Saskatchewan. Methods: Practising physiotherapists who assess and treat adults with balance and mobility impairments were eligible to participate in this cross-sectional, online survey. The questions investigated the use of balance assessment mea...

The present study investigated the effect of haptic input via light touch on standing balance of individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). Centre of pressure (COP) measures during standing were assessed in 16 participants with iSCI (13 males; 61.1 ± 19.9 years; C1-L4; AIS C and D) and 13 able-bodied (AB) participants (10 males; 59.4 ±...

Modulation of Hoffmann (H-) reflex amplitude can provide insight into the excitability of spinal circuitry during different postural conditions. The soleus H-reflex has been shown to decrease when postural demand increases (i.e., sitting to standing). This may be a broadly applicable CNS control strategy since a reduction in reflex gain by presynap...

Although inertial sensor systems are becoming a popular tool for gait analysis in both healthy and pathological adult populations, there are currently no data on the validity of these systems for use with children. The purpose of this study was to validate spatiotemporal data from a commercial inertial sensor system (MobilityLab) in typically-devel...

Objective: Walking assessment is an important aspect of rehabilitation practice; yet, clinicians have few psychometrically sound options for evaluating walking in highly ambulatory children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of two new measures of walking function-the Obstacles and Curb tests-relative to the 10...

Knee abduction moment in a weight bearing limb is an important risk factor of conditions such as patellofemoral pain and knee osteoarthritis. Excessive pelvic drop in single leg stance can increase the knee abduction moment. The gluteus medius muscle is crucial to prevent pelvic drop and must be activated in anticipation of the transition from doub...

Functional tests, such as the timed-up-and-go (TUG), are routinely used to screen for mobility issues and fall risk. While the TUG is easy to administer and evaluate, its single time-to-completion outcome may not discriminate between different mobility challenges. Wearable sensors provide an opportunity to collect a variety of additional variables...

This study compared sit to stand (STS) performance between older adults in a 9-week training program focusing on core stability exercises to enhance balance and postural control (EB) versus standard balance (SB) exercises. Repetitions in 30 seconds (STSreps) and kinematic performance (vertical and horizontal momentum, and margin of stability) were...

Parkinson's disease (PD) causes instability and difficulty adapting to changing environmental and task demands. We examined the effects of PD on the adaptation of gait termination (GT) on a slippery surface under unexpected and cued circumstances. An unexpected slip perturbation during GT was followed by a slip perturbation during GT under two cond...

Objective: To examine the effects of somatosensory input, in the form of light touch through the fingertip compared to an instrumented cane, during level and slope treadmill walking in a virtual environment. Design: Quasi-experimental with repeated measures. Setting: Rehabilitation hospital, multidisciplinary research site. Participants: Convenienc...

An unexpected slip during gait termination results in a generalised slip response designed to regain stability and prevent a fall. With knowledge of and experience with a slippery surface, locomotor behaviour adapts to proactively diminish the effect of the slip and improve the reactive control during the slip. Our purpose was to examine the organi...

We have developed a novel cane device to be used in conjunction with a treadmill-based virtual reality (VR) locomotor system. The instrumentation of such a cane device is described and results examining its use and feasibility as a proof of principle are provided in this preliminary study involving five persons with stroke and 5 healthy participant...

While postural control during quiet stance can be enhanced by haptic input, the role of tactile cues on gait ability in healthy or neurological populations has not yet been established. We proposed a novel set-up combining the use of virtual reality with a self-paced treadmill to study the effects of light touch and cane use on walking stability i...

This study investigated how Parkinson's disease (PD) affects the ability to switch from locomotion to gait termination (GT) during planned and cued GT and examined the effect of PD on the integration of a reactive, balance maintenance strategy into voluntary GT. After a series of stops on a stable surface, eight participants with and 10 without PD...

The ability to use haptic input through light contact to improve stability while walking post-stroke is investigated in a virtual environment (VE). Persons with stroke and healthy participants walk in a VE where they encounter changes in the slope of the support surface. Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic data analyses will be used to show t...

We examined changes in the motor organization of postural control in response to continuous, variable amplitude oscillations evoked by a translating platform and explored whether these changes reflected implicit sequence learning. The platform underwent random amplitude (maximum +/- 15 cm) and constant frequency (0.5 Hz) oscillations. Each trial wa...

The ability to use haptic input through light contact to improve stability while walking post-stroke is investigated in a virtual environment (VE). Persons with stroke and healthy participants walk in a VE where they encounter changes in the slope of the support surface. Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic data analyses will be used to show t...

This study investigated how Parkinson's disease (PD) affects the ability to switch from locomotion to gait termination (GT) during planned and cued GT and examined the effect of PD on the integration of a reactive, balance maintenance strategy into voluntary GT. After a series of stops on a stable surface, eight participants with and 10 without PD...

There are three common ways by which to successfully terminate gait: decreased acceleration of whole-body center of mass (COM) through a flexor synergy in the trail leg, increased deceleration of whole-body COM through an extensor synergy in the front limb, and an energy/momentum transfer to dissipate any remaining momentum if the first two strateg...