Citation

O'Halloran AM, Penard N, Galli A, Fan CW, Robertson IH, Kenny RA. BMC Geriatr. 2011; 11(1): 85.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1471-2318-11-85

PMID

22182487

PMCID

PMC3267797

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Previous evidence indicates that older people allocate more of their attentional resources toward their gait and that the attention-related changes that occur during aging increase the risk of falls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether performance and variability in sustained attention is associated with falls and falls efficacy in older adults. METHODS: 458 community-dwelling adults aged [greater than or equal to] 60 years underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Mean and variability of reaction time (RT), commission errors and omission errors were recorded during a fixed version of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). RT variability was decomposed using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) procedure, to help characterise variability associated with the arousal and vigilance aspects of sustained attention. The number of self-reported falls in the previous twelve months, and falls efficacy (Modified Falls Efficacy Scale) were also recorded. RESULTS: Significant increases in the mean and variability of reaction time on the SART were significantly associated with both falls (p < 0.01) and reduced falls efficacy (p < 0.05) in older adults. An increase in omission errors was also associated with falls (p < 0.01) and reduced falls efficacy (p < 0.05). Adjusting for age and gender affects, logistic regression modelling revealed that increasing variability, associated with the vigilance (top-down) aspect of sustained attention, was a retrospective predictor of falling in the previous year (p < 0.01, OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.03 - 1.26) and was weakly correlated with reduced falls efficacy in non-fallers (p = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Greater variability in sustained attention is strongly correlated with retrospective falls and to a lesser degree with reduced falls efficacy. This cognitive measure may provide a novel and valuable biomarker for falls in older adults, potentially allowing for early detection and the implementation of preventative intervention strategies.

Language: en