Neurological gait abnormalities and risk of falls in older adults (original) (raw)
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Fall-related functional impairments in patients with neurological gait disorder
Scientific Reports, 2020
Falls are common in patients with neurological disorders and are a primary cause of injuries. Nonetheless, fall-associated gait characteristics are poorly understood in these patients. Objective, quantitative gait analysis is an important tool to identify the principal fall-related motor characteristics and to advance fall prevention in patients with neurological disorders. Fall incidence was assessed in 60 subjects with different neurological disorders. Patients underwent a comprehensive set of functional assessments including instrumented gait analysis, computerized postural assessments and clinical walking tests. Determinants of falls were assessed by binary logistic regression analysis and receiver operator characteristics (ROC). The best single determinant of fallers was a step length reduction at slow walking speed reaching an accuracy of 67.2% (ROC AUC: 0.669; p = 0.027). The combination of 4 spatio-temporal gait parameters including step length and parameters of variability ...
Gait disorders are associated with non-cardiovascular falls in elderly people: A preliminary study
BMC Geriatrics, 2005
The association between unexplained falls and cardiovascular causes is increasingly recognized. Neurally mediated cardiovascular disorders and hypotensive syndromes are found in almost 20 percent of the patients with unexplained falls. However, the approach to these patients remains unclear. Gait assessment might be an interesting approach to these patients as clinical observations suggests that those with cardiovascular or hypotensive causes may not manifest obvious gait alterations. Our primary objective is to analyze the association between gait disorders and a non-cardiovascular cause of falls in patients with unexplained falls. A second objective is to test the sensitivity and specificity of a gait assessment approach for detecting non-cardiovascular causes when compared with intrinsic-extrinsic classification.
Comparison between clinical gait and daily-life gait assessments of fall risk in older people
Geriatrics & gerontology international, 2017
Falls are a leading cause of disability in older people. Here we investigate if daily-life gait assessments are better than clinical gait assessments at discriminating between older people with and without a history of falls. A total of 96 independent-living participants (age 75.5 ± 7.8) underwent sensorimotor, psychological and cognitive assessments, and the Timed Up and Go and 10-m walk tests. Participants wore a small pendant sensor device for a week in their home environment, from which the new remote assessments of daily-life gait were determined. During daily-life, fallers had significantly lower gait quality (lower gait endurance, higher within-walk variability and lower between-walk adaptability), but not reduced gait quantity (total steps) or gait intensity (mean cadence). In the clinic, fallers had slower Timed Up and Go, but not 10-m walk test times. After adjusting for demographics, only the daily-life assessments of gait endurance and within-walk variability remained si...
Sensors
Gait quality characteristics obtained from accelerometry during daily life are predictive of falls in older people but it is unclear how they relate to fall risk. Our aim was to test whether these gait quality characteristics are associated with the severity of fall risk. We collected one week of trunk accelerometry data from 279 older people (aged 65–95 years; 69.5% female). We used linear regression to investigate the association between six daily-life gait quality characteristics and categorized physiological fall risk (QuickScreen). Logarithmic rate of divergence in the vertical (VT) and anteroposterior (AP) direction were significantly associated with the level of fall risk after correction for walking speed (both p < 0.01). Sample entropy in VT and the mediolateral direction and the gait quality composite were not significantly associated with the level of fall risk. We found significant differences between the high fall risk group and the very low- and low-risk groups, the...
PLoS ONE, 2013
Background: Although gait disorders are common in the elderly, the prevalence and overall burden of these disorders in the general community is not well defined. Methods: In a cross-sectional investigation of the population-based Bruneck Study cohort, 488 community-residing elderly aged 60-97 years underwent a thorough neurological assessment including a standardized gait evaluation. Gait disorders were classified according to an accepted scheme and their associations to falls, neuropsychological measures, and quality of life were explored. Results: Overall, 32.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 28.2%-36.4%) of participants presented with impaired gait. Prevalence increased with age (p,0.001), but 38.3% (95%CI 30.1%-47.3%) of the subjects aged 80 years or older still had a normally preserved gait. A total of 24.0% (95%CI 20.4%-28.0%) manifested neurological gait disorders, 17.4% (14.3%-21.0%) nonneurological gait problems, and 9.2% (6.9%-12.1%) a combination of both. While there was no association of neurological gait disorders with gender, non-neurological gait disorders were more frequent in women (p = 0.012). Within the group of neurological gait disorders 69.2% (95%CI 60.3%-76.9%) had a single distinct entity and 30.8% (23.1%-39.7%) had multiple neurological causes for gait impairment. Gait disorders had a significant negative impact on quantitative gait measures, but only neurological gait disorders were associated with recurrent falls (odds ratio 3.3; 95%CI 1.4-7.5; p = 0.005 for single and 7.1; 2.7-18.7; p,0.001 for multiple neurological gait disorders). Finally, we detected a significant association of gait disorders, in particular neurological gait disorders, with depressed mood, cognitive dysfunction, and compromised quality of life. Conclusions: Gait disorders are common in the general elderly population and are associated with reduced mobility. Neurological gait disorders in particular are associated with recurrent falls, lower cognitive function, depressed mood, and diminished quality of life.
Age and Ageing, 2012
Objectives: to explore the associations between spatiotemporal gait parameters and falls in cognitively impaired older people and to investigate whether sensorimotor and neuropsychological factors mediate the association between gait performance and falls. Design: prospective cohort study with a 1 year follow-up. Setting: community-dwelling sample. Participants: sixty-four participants (62-96 years of age) with cognitive impairment. Measurements: gait analysis and sensorimotor and neuropsychological functions were assessed in all participants. Falls were identified prospectively for 1 year. Results: multiple fallers (≥2 falls) had significantly slower gait velocity, shorter stride length, greater double support time and increased step length variability in univariate analyses. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that the relationship between gait and falls was mediated primarily by sensorimotor function and to a lesser extent by neuropsychological performance. Conclusion: the findings indicate that slow and variable gait patterns increase the risk of falls in cognitively impaired older adults. Further, the association between gait and falls seems to be mediated in large by reduced sensorimotor functioning. Further research is needed to investigate whether interventions aimed at improving gait and/or sensorimotor fall risk factors, such as strength and balance, can prevent falls in cognitively impaired older adults.
Ambulatory Fall-Risk Assessment: Amount and Quality of Daily-Life Gait Predict Falls in Older Adults
The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2015
Ambulatory measurements of trunk accelerations can provide valuable information on the amount and quality of daily-life activities and contribute to the identification of individuals at risk of falls. We compared associations between retrospective and prospective falls with potential risk factors as measured by daily-life accelerometry. In addition, we investigated predictive value of these parameters for 6-month prospective falls. One week of trunk accelerometry (DynaPort MoveMonitor) was obtained in 169 older adults (mean age 75). The amount of daily activity and quality of gait were determined and validated questionnaires on fall-risk factors, grip strength, and trail making test were obtained. Six-month fall incidence was obtained retrospectively by recall and prospectively by fall diaries and monthly telephone contact. Among all participants, 35.5% had a history of ≥1 falls and 34.9% experienced ≥1 falls during 6-month follow-up. Logistic regressions showed that questionnaires,...
Laboratory Review: The Role of Gait Analysis in Seniors’ Mobility and Fall Prevention
Gerontology, 2011
mine fall risk. Early detection of gait disorders and fall risk permits early intervention and, in the best-case scenario, fall prevention. We and others have shown that rhythmic movement training such as Jaques-Dalcroze eurhythmics, tai chi and social dancing can improve gait regularity and automaticity, thus increasing gait safety and reducing fall risk.