Age differences in abilities to perform tandem stand and walk tasks of graded difficulty (original) (raw)
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Experimental Gerontology, 2018
There is currently no test to directly and easily measure dynamic balance during walking in old adults. We examined the idea that distance of beam walking with and without cognitive dual-tasking could detect age differences in dynamic balance. Healthy old (n = 16, 71.2 y) and young (n = 20, 22.0 y) volunteers walked 3 times on 4-m long beams first without (single-tasking) then with a calculation task (dual-tasking) in order of decreasing beam width (12, 8, 4 cm). There was a Group (old, young) by Beam width (4, 8, 12 cm) by Task (single-, dual-tasking) interaction (F = 4.0, p = 0.026) for beam walking distance (primary outcome). Beam walking distance decreased similarly with decreasing beam width while single-tasking (12 cm: 3.88 m, 8 cm: 3.62 m, 4 cm: 2.49 m) and dual-tasking (12 cm: 3.87 m, 8 cm: 3.76 m, 4 cm: 2.59 m) in young adults. Beam walking distance decreased substantially and most on the narrowest beam while single-tasking (12 cm: 3.85 m, 8 cm: 3.72 m, 4 cm: 1.46 m) but decreased even more on the two narrowest beams during dual-tasking (12 cm 3.91 m, 8 cm: 2.63 m, 4 cm: 0.66 m) in old adults. Video analyses revealed that step length decreased in young while both step number and step length decreased in old adults. Beam width but not dual-tasking affected young adults' beam walking distance whereas both beam width and dual-tasking affected substantially and interactively old adults' beam walking distance and velocity. The results suggest that, if validated and cognitive performance also quantified, beam walking distance and walking velocity in single-and dual-tasking conditions could be a diagnostic tool of walking balance and cognitive impairment in aging.
Age-related changes in human posture control during prolonged standing
The aim of this study was to characterize prolonged standing and its effect on postural control in elderly individuals in comparison to adults. It is unknown how elderly individuals behave during prolonged standing and how demanding such a task is for them. We recorded the center of pressure (COP) position of 14 elderly subjects and 14 adults while they performed prolonged standing (30 min) and quiet stance tasks (60 s) on a force plate. The number and amplitude of the COP patterns, the root mean square (RMS), speed, and frequency of the COP sway were analyzed. The elderly subjects were able to stand for prolonged periods but they produced postural changes of lesser amplitude and a decreased sway during the prolonged standing task. Both the adults and the elderly subjects were influenced by the prolonged standing task, as demonstrated by their increased COP RMS and COP speed in the quiet standing trial after the prolonged standing task, in comparison to the trial before. We suggest that the lack of mobility in elderly subjects may be responsible for the observed sub-optimal postural changes in this group. The inability of elderly individuals to generate similar responses to adults during prolonged standing may contribute to the increased risk of falls in the older population. #
Gait & Posture, 2005
Standing turns are associated with an increased risk for falls and fall-related injuries in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to test the (null) hypothesis that age has no effect on the kinematics of the 1808 turn. Ten young and 10 older healthy women were asked to complete a series of 1808 turns in a standing posture after picking up a light bowl with both hands. Foot-ground reactions, insole pressures and body segment kinematics were recorded in 62 trials at 100 Hz. Turning strategies were analyzed for effects of both age and turn direction on linear and angular foot kinematics, as well as pelvic axial rotation. The older women (OW) used a preparatory stepping strategy more often (170%, p < 0.002), and employed a lower average pelvic rotation rate (21%, p < 0.011) than the younger controls. The minimum foot separation distance for OW was less in their non-preferred than in their preferred turn direction (29%, p < 0.038), thereby increasing their risk of footfoot interference and falling when turning in their non-preferred direction. The older women were more variable in their turn execution, particularly in minimum foot separation distance (55%, p < 0.022) and the maximum rate of pelvic rotation (82%, p < 0.035). Despite the fact that these healthy older women were careful to employ a preparatory stepping strategy and slower average rotational velocities, they were also more variable in their turn execution than the young. #
The aim of this study was to characterize prolonged standing and its effect on postural control in elderly individuals in comparison to adults. It is unknown how elderly individuals behave during prolonged standing and how demanding such a task is for them. We recorded the center of pressure (COP) position of 14 elderly subjects and 14 adults while they performed prolonged standing (30 min) and quiet stance tasks (60 s) on a force plate. The number and amplitude of the COP patterns, the root mean square (RMS), speed, and frequency of the COP sway were analyzed. The elderly subjects were able to stand for prolonged periods but they produced postural changes of lesser amplitude and a decreased sway during the prolonged standing task. Both the adults and the elderly subjects were influenced by the prolonged standing task, as demonstrated by their increased COP RMS and COP speed in the quiet standing trial after the prolonged standing task, in comparison to the trial before. We suggest that the lack of mobility in elderly subjects may be responsible for the observed sub-optimal postural changes in this group. The inability of elderly individuals to generate similar responses to adults during prolonged standing may contribute to the increased risk of falls in the older population. #
Age impairs sit-to-walk motor performance
Journal of biomechanics, 2009
Sit-to-walk (STW) is a common functional and transitional task which challenges an individual's postural control systems. As aging is associated with an increased risk of falls during transitional movements, we biomechanically investigated the STW movement task in 12 healthy young and 12 healthy elderly individuals. Performance was evaluated utilizing motion analysis and two force plates. The principal finding of this study was the impaired performance of the healthy older adults. The older adults generated significantly less momentum prior to rising (p ¼ 0.011) and further delayed (po0.001) the initiation of gait until standing more upright (p ¼ 0.036). The young adults successfully merged the component tasks shortly after seat-off and displayed significantly greater step length (po0.001), step velocity (po0.001), and tolerated greater separation of the center of pressure and center of mass at the end single support phase of the initial step (p ¼ 0.001). While the young adults fluidly merged the standing and walking task components, the older adults displayed a conservative movement performance during the STW task thereby limiting threats to their postural stability.
Age-related changes in human postural control of prolonged standing
Gait & Posture, 2005
The aim of this study was to characterize prolonged standing and its effect on postural control in elderly individuals in comparison to adults. It is unknown how elderly individuals behave during prolonged standing and how demanding such a task is for them. We recorded the center of pressure (COP) position of 14 elderly subjects and 14 adults while they performed prolonged standing (30 min) and quiet stance tasks (60 s) on a force plate. The number and amplitude of the COP patterns, the root mean square (RMS), speed, and frequency of the COP sway were analyzed. The elderly subjects were able to stand for prolonged periods but they produced postural changes of lesser amplitude and a decreased sway during the prolonged standing task. Both the adults and the elderly subjects were influenced by the prolonged standing task, as demonstrated by their increased COP RMS and COP speed in the quiet standing trial after the prolonged standing task, in comparison to the trial before. We suggest that the lack of mobility in elderly subjects may be responsible for the observed sub-optimal postural changes in this group. The inability of elderly individuals to generate similar responses to adults during prolonged standing may contribute to the increased risk of falls in the older population. #
Effect of age on dynamic walking balance in a healthy population between the ages of 20 and 80 years
Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, 2018
Background: Falls have been attributed to deterioration of dynamic walking balance. Accurate age-range determination of dynamic walking balance deterioration has yet to be elucidated. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine, by age/decade range, dynamic walking balance deterioration to provide a more accurate age range for interventional dynamic walking balance assessment and treatment. Methods: Participant demographic data were collected [age (years), gender, height (cm), body mass (kg), and body mass index (BMI) (kg•m-²)] on one hundred fifteen individuals between the ages of 20 and 80 years. Participants then completed a modified version of Rubenstein and colleagues' Fall Risk Questionnaire (mFRQ) and performed two trials of the ten step tandem walk test eyes open (TSTWT EO). Participant TSTWT EO scores were averaged and recorded as number of tandem walking steps, maximum of ten, prior to loss of balance. Results: A single factor ANOVA compared the effects of age, distributed per decade of life, on human dynamic walking balance. A statistically significant effect of age on TSTWT EO was found [F (1, 228) = 509.5053, p=4.8E-60]. Post hoc comparisons using two-sample t-tests indicated that the mean TSTWT EO score for the fourth decade of life group (30-39 years) (M=9.15, SD ± 0.65) was significantly different from the fifth decade of life group (40-49 years) (M=6.00, SD±1.61) (p=1.65E-10, d=2.57), after Bonferroni correction. No statistically significant difference between participants' capacity to successfully perform the TSTWT EO was found between the third and fourth life decades (20-29 and 30-39 years), fifth and sixth life decades (40-49 and 50-59 years), sixth and seventh life decades (50-59 and 60-69 years), nor seventh and eighth life decades (60-69 and 70-79). Conclusion: A statistically significant difference was found in the dynamic walking capacity of participants ranging in age from 20 to 80 years. Statistically significant dynamic walking balance deterioration was shown to occur during the fifth decade of life compared to the fourth decade of life, which indicated that balance assessment and mediation be considered during an individual's fifth decade of life, between the ages of 40 to 49 years.
2016
Copyright © 2011 Tobias Kalisch et al. This 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. As life expectancy continues to rise, in the future there will be an increasing number of older people prone to falling. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for comprehensive testing of older individuals to collect data and to identify possible risk factors for falling. Here we use a low-cost force platform to rapidly assess deficits in balance under various conditions. We tested 21 healthy older adults and 24 young adults during static stance, unidirectional and rotational displacement of their centre of pressure (COP). We found an age-related increase in postural sway during quiet standing and a reduction of maximal COP displacement in unidirectional and rotational displacement tests. Our data show that even low-cost computerized ...
Gender influence on balance performances in the elderly
South African Journal of Physiotherapy, 2006
This study was carried out to investigate gender influence on balance performance of apparently healthy elderly using the Sharpened Romberg Test (SRT) for static balance and the Functional Reach Test (FRT) for dynamic balance assessments. One hundred and three (103) apparently healthy male and 100 apparently healthy female elderly subjects of age ranging from 60 to 74 years participated in this study. They had no history of neurologicaldeficits, postural hypotension, orthopaedics conditions or injury to the back and / or upper and lower extremities within the past five years.Descriptive statistics of range, means and standard deviation were used to analyze the physical characteristics and each of the two tests. The independent t-test was used to compare the balance performances in elderly males and females. The results showed that males performed significantly higher than females in FRT: ( 31.46 ± 12.34) and (24.00 ± 10.73) respectively. Males performed significantly higher than fe...