Research Article Sharp Turning and Corner Turning: Comparison of Energy Expenditure, Gait Parameters, and Level of Fatigue among Community-Dwelling Elderly Maria Justine, 1,2 Haidzir Manaf, 1 Affeenddie Sulaiman, 1 Shahir Razi, 1 and Hani Asilah Alias 1 1 Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Communities of Research (CoRe), Humanities and Quality of Life, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Correspondence should be addressed to Maria Justine; maria205@salam.uitm.edu.my Received 4 February 2014; Revised 19 April 2014; Accepted 12 May 2014; Published 28 May 2014 Academic Editor: Jacob J. Sosnof Copyright © 2014 Maria Justine et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. his study compares energy expenditure (EE), gait parameters (GP), and level of fatigue (LOF) between 5-minute walking with sharp turning (ST) and corner turning (CT). Data were obtained from 29 community-dwelling elderly (mean age, 62.7 ± 3.54 years). For 5 minutes, in ST task, participants walked on a 3-meter pathway with 2 cones placed at each end (180 ∘ turning), while in CT task, participants walked on a 6-meter pathway with 4 cones placed at 4 corners (90 ∘ turning). he physiological cost index, pedometer, and 10-point Modiied Borg Dyspnoea Scale were used to measure EE (beats/min), GP (no of steps), and LOF, respectively. Data were analyzed by using independent -tests. EE during ST (0.62 ± 0.21 beats/min) was signiicantly higher than CT (0.48 ± 0.17 beats/min) ( < 0.05). GP (434 ± 92.93 steps) and LOF (1.40 ± 1.11) in ST were found to be lower compared to GP (463 ± 92.18 steps) and LOF (1.54 ± 1.34) in CT (All,  > 0.05). Higher EE in ST could be due to the diiculty in changing to a 180 ∘ direction, which may involve agility and diferent turning strategies (step-turn or pivot-turn) to adjust the posture carefully. In CT, participants could choose a step-turn strategy to change to a 90 ∘ direction, which was less challenging to postural control. 1. Introduction Age-related decline in sensory function and motor and neural processing, together with the common age-related diseases, results in balance impairment and increases the number of falls among older persons [1, 2]. Falls not only cause serious injuries, such as fractures and traumatic brain injuries, but also lead to accidental death. In addition, falls can lead to fear of falling, which results in progressive participation restriction [3]. his problem, in turn, can lead to several impairments, such as decreased muscle strength, balance, mobility, agility, and walking abilities as well as endurance. Hence, these outcomes can further result in frailty, loss of independence, and recurrent falls [4, 5]. Falls among independent community-dwelling older adults most oten occur while walking on level or uneven surfaces [6]. Most falls occur at home, and the most common places are the bathrooms and stairs [7]. Turning or changing direction while walking is associated with falling incidences [8]. Falls and injuries during turning are eight times more likely to occur than during straight walking [9]. Turning while walking is a demanding task for older persons as it involves deceleration of forward motion, body rotation, and stepping out towards a new direction [10]. Staggering during turning, increased time, and the number of steps to complete turning are prominent characteristics of recurrent fallers [11]. herefore, we surmise that, during turning, older per- sons may struggle to maintain their stability and to avoid falling. his study predicts that changing direction may cause the increased usage of energy due to the involvement of certain muscles. his statement is supported by previous studies, which claim that the instability experienced by older Hindawi Publishing Corporation BioMed Research International Volume 2014, Article ID 640321, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/640321