Stair negotiation

This research area focuses on the prevention of falls on stairs.

One of the greatest daily challenges for frail populations such as older people and people with musculoskeletal, neuromuscular and cognitive deficits is to negotiate steps and stairs.

This is where falls and accidents occur most frequently, resulting in serious injuries with substantial consequences for the fallers, their carers and the NHS.

Important questions that this research aims to address include:

• What factors increase the risk of falling on stairs, and how do they influence the ability to step safely?
• Can we predict a fall on stairs?
• Which preventative measures are more effective and pragmatic for making stair negotiation safer?
• How does stair fall risk in home environments compares to lab-based studies

A unique custom-made staircase with adjustable dimensions in each step, instrumented with force sensors in the steps and the handrails, is available at the RISES for studying the biomechanics of stair and step negotiation.

Collaborations with the Brain & Behaviour group within the RISES, with the LJMU School of Nursing and Allied Health, and with the Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies (BEST) Research Institute at LJMU, have recently been developed, leading to a new multidisciplinary cross-faculty group, the Research to Improve Stair Climbing Safety (RISCS) group.

How we move on stairs

The focus of RISCS is to investigate and document the nature of the factors compromising stair safety and develop effective tools/interventions to detect stair fall risk and prevent stair falls. We have recently documented various aspects impacting stair fall prevention in older people, including:

• the role of muscle strength (functional capability)
• the role of eye-gaze, dual-tasking and stepping technique during stair walking (behaviour and technique)
• the role of lighting, physical characteristics of stairs and inconsistency in step dimensions (environment)

We have also developed for the first time a stepping profiling tool for the assessment of stair fall risk in older people. We have also recently developed non-wearable sensors for studying stair negotiation and associated fall risk in naturalistic environments outside the lab.

The RISCS group is supported by PhD students and research interns, by internal and external funding, and importantly also by various external partners and end-users pivotal for impact translation, policy-making and implementation of our research.

This includes the Building Research Establishment, the formal UK body that issues building regulations, the Liverpool Housing Trust, AgeUK Cheshire, the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust, and the Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Promedica24.

Knowledge exchange and policy making

Inclusion of the RISCS (Research to Improve Stair Climbing Safety) group of LJMU in the report Sport and Exercise Education: Impact on the UK Economy, published by the Physiological Society in 2019.

Inclusion of the RISCS group of LJMU in the report Growing Older, Better: Physiology’s role in meeting the UK government’s healthy ageing mission, published by the Physiological Society in 2019.

Appointment of Prof Costis Maganaris to Public Health England as an advisory member to model the effect of Covid-19 on falls in older people, 2020. Co-authorship in white paper published by GOV.UK, based on the above role.

Our staff

• Prof Costis Maganaris
• Prof Tom O’Brien
• Dr Richard Foster
• Prof Bill Baltzopoulos
• Dr Theo Bampouras

Primary contact

• Prof Costis Maganaris