Drunken driving limits unsafe even for walking in older people

Just two single vodka and orange drinks were enough to slow down reaction time in older adults, a study has revealed.

The researchers found that senior volunteers struggle at an obstacle avoidance test while walking if they consume just two alcoholic drinks.

Judith Hegeman worked with a team of researchers from Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, to carry out the tests in 13 healthy men and women (average age 61.5 or 62 years).

"The results clearly show that even with low blood alcohol concentrations, reactions to sudden gait perturbations are seriously affected," she said.

"After ingestion of two alcoholic drinks, obstacles were hit twice as often, response times were delayed, and response amplitudes were reduced. These changes were most obvious in situations with little available response time."

To carry out the test, the volunteers first started to walk on a treadmill. Once they had attained a steady walking pace, a thin wooden block was placed at the far end of the belt and allowed to move towards the volunteer.

Hegeman and her colleagues measured the effects of alcohol on the basis of the capability of subjects to step over the obstacle.

"We found that alcohol levels, considered to be safe for driving, seriously hamper the ability to successfully avoid sudden obstacles in the travel path.

"A possible limitation of this study is the relatively small sample size; however, even with the small number, it yielded an unequivocal outcome," she said.

The study is published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes.