Implementation of perturbation training for elderly requires a validated measure to quantify someone’s ability to recover
when encountering a perturbation. A quantified recovery performance has been constructed for the anteroposterior
(QRP_AP) and for mediolateral (QRP_ML) plane, the QRP_AP and QRP_ML reflect the amount of deviation of the center of
pressure trajectory from the unperturbed walking pattern. The QRP_AP and QRP_ML were calculated for eleven elderly
subjects (>65 years), who experienced 66 perturbations (accelerations and decelerations) during treadmill walking.
The constructed QRP_AP and QRP_ML were validated in this study (1) by comparing them to the rated recovery performance
(RRT) as provided by physiotherapists and (2) by studying how they were affected by an increased specified
difficulty (SpD) of perturbations. The used perturbation characteristics for the SpD’s were validated with the perceived
difficulty (PD) as reported by the subjects for each perturbation. A positive relation confirmed the increase of PD with
an increase of SpD. Both for the QRP_AP and the QRP_ML a positive relation was found with the RRP and a negative relation
was found with the SpD. The QRPAP showed a stronger relation with the RRP and was found to be more sensitive
when compared to the QRP_ML. The relation of the QRP_AP with the RRP was consistent across physiotherapists. Implementation of the QRP_AP during perturbation training will decrease the attention demanded of physiotherapists and will remove the offset observed across physiotherapists. Progress can be monitored objectively and training difficulty can
be adjusted accordingly.