The purpose of this study was to determine the interrelationships between lower limb muscle performance, balance, gait and falls in older people using structural equation modeling. Study participants were two hundred and thirteen people aged 65 years and older (mean age, 80.0 +/- 7.1 years), who used day-care services in Japan. The outcome measures were the history of falls three months retrospectively and physical risk factors for falling, including performance in the chair stand test (CST), one-leg standing test (OLS), tandem walk test, 6m walking time, and the timed up-and-go (TUG) test. Thirty-nine (18.3%) of the 213 participants had fallen at least one or more times during the preceding 3 months. The fall group had significantly slower 6m walking speed and took significantly longer to undertake the TUG test than the non-fall group. In a structural equation model, performance in the CST contributed significantly to gait function, and low gait function was significantly and directly associated with falls in older people. This suggests that task-specific strength exercise as well as general mobility retraining should be important components of exercise programs designed to reduce falls in older people.
AD - Section for Health Promotion, Department of Health and Medical Care, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35 Gengo, Morioka-machi, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan. shimada@ncgg.go.jp AN - 21145119 BT - Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics ET - 2010/12/15 LA - eng M1 - 2 N1 - Shimada, HiroyukiTiedemann, AnneLord, Stephen RSuzukawa, MegumiMakizako, HyumaKobayashi, KumikoSuzuki, TakaoComparative StudyResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tNetherlandsArchives of gerontology and geriatricsArch Gerontol Geriatr. 2011 Sep-Oct;53(2):131-4. Epub 2010 Dec 8. N2 -The purpose of this study was to determine the interrelationships between lower limb muscle performance, balance, gait and falls in older people using structural equation modeling. Study participants were two hundred and thirteen people aged 65 years and older (mean age, 80.0 +/- 7.1 years), who used day-care services in Japan. The outcome measures were the history of falls three months retrospectively and physical risk factors for falling, including performance in the chair stand test (CST), one-leg standing test (OLS), tandem walk test, 6m walking time, and the timed up-and-go (TUG) test. Thirty-nine (18.3%) of the 213 participants had fallen at least one or more times during the preceding 3 months. The fall group had significantly slower 6m walking speed and took significantly longer to undertake the TUG test than the non-fall group. In a structural equation model, performance in the CST contributed significantly to gait function, and low gait function was significantly and directly associated with falls in older people. This suggests that task-specific strength exercise as well as general mobility retraining should be important components of exercise programs designed to reduce falls in older people.
PY - 2011 SN - 1872-6976 (Electronic)0167-4943 (Linking) SP - 131 EP - 4 T2 - Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics TI - Physical factors underlying the association between lower walking performance and falls in older people: a structural equation model VL - 53 ER -