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Increased gait unsteadiness in community-dwelling elderly fallersOBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that quantitative measures of gait unsteadiness are increased in community-dwelling elderly fallers. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, case-control study. SETTING: General community. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-five community-dwelling elderly subjects older than 70 years of age who were capable of ambulating independently for 6 minutes were categorized as fallers (age, 82.2 +/- 4.9 yrs [mean +/- SD]; n = 18) and nonfallers (age, 76.5 +/- 4.0 yrs; n = 17) based on history; 22 young (age, 24.6 +/- 1.9 yrs), healthy subjects also participated as a second reference group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Stride-to-stride variability (standard deviation and coefficient of variation) of stride time, stance time, swing time, and percent stance time measured during a 6-minute walk. RESULTS: All measures of gait variability were significantly greater in the elderly fallers compared with both the elderly nonfallers and the young subjects (p < .0002). In contrast, walking speed of the elderly fallers was similar to that of the nonfallers. There were little or no differences in the variability measures of the elderly nonfallers compared with the young subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Stride-to-stride temporal variations of gait are relatively unchanged in community-dwelling elderly nonfallers, but are significantly increased in elderly fallers. Quantitative measurement of gait unsteadiness may be useful in assessing fall risk in the elderly.
Document ID
20040173017
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hausdorff, J. M.
(Beth Israel Hospital Boston, MA 02215, United States)
Edelberg, H. K.
Mitchell, S. L.
Goldberger, A. L.
Wei, J. Y.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation
Volume: 78
Issue: 3
ISSN: 0003-9993
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: AG-08812
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary
Non-NASA Center

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