Consistency and cost of dual-task gait balance measure in healthy adolescents and young adults

• Gait stability measurement consistency was good to excellent over repeated testing.
• Young adults and adolescents walked with similar dual-task consistency.
• Dual-task costs were greater during more complex cognitive tasks.

Matched control data are commonly used to examine recovery from concussion. Limited data exist, however, examining dual-task gait data consistency collected over time in healthy individuals. The study purposes were to: 1) assess the consistency of single-task and dual-task gait balance control measures, 2) determine the minimal detectable change (MDC) of gait balance control measures, and 3) examine the extent to which age and task complexity affect dual-task walking costs in healthy adolescents and young adults. Twenty-four adolescent (mean age = 15.5 ± 1.1 years) and 21 young adult (mean age = 21.2 ± 4.5 years) healthy participants completed 5 testing sessions across a two-month period, which involved analyses of gait balance control and temporal-distance variables during single-task and dual-task walking conditions in a motion analysis laboratory. Cronbach’s α and MDCs were used to determine the consistency of the gait balance control variables and the smallest amount of change required to distinguish true performance from change due to the performance/measurement variability, respectively. Dual-task costs were evaluated to determine the effect of task complexity and age across time using 3-way ANOVAs. Good to excellent test-retest consistency was found for all single-task and dual-task walking (Cronbach’s α range: 0.764–0.970), with a center-of-mass medial-lateral displacement MDC range of 0.835–0.948 cm. Greater frontal plane dual-task costs were observed during more complex secondary tasks (p < 0.001). The results revealed good-excellent consistency across testing sessions for all variables and indicated dual-task costs are affected by task complexity. Thus, healthy controls can be effective comparators when assessing injured subjects.