Citation

Uemura K, Yamada M, Nagai K, Tanaka B, Mori S. Aging Clin. Exp. Res. 2012; 24(4): 361-364.

Affiliation

Department of Physical Therapy, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, 1-1-20 Daikouminami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 461-8673, Japan. kazuki.uemura@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

23238310

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Impairment in visual-spatial attention can cause difficulties in planning and guiding movements, leading to falls in older adults .The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between visual-spatial attention during movement and the risk of falling in older adults. METHODS: Thirty-six elderly volunteers (mean age, 73.2±6.8 years) performed a rapid choice stepping task in response to flanker task stimuli. Step errors in congruent or incongruent conditions were recorded as a measure of the accuracy of choice stepping. Four clinical measurements were also assessed: 10-min walking time, timed up and go test, functional reach test and 5- chair stand test. RESULTS: High-risk (HR) participants showed a significantly higher rate of step errors in the incongruent condition than low-risk (LR) ones (HR: 55.5%, LR: 18.5%; p =0.032). Step error in the incongruent condition [odds ratio (OR)=5.5; p=0.041] was the only independent variable which remained significant in the final step of the logistic regression model. CONCLUSION: Impaired choice stepping in response to a visual-spatial attention-demanding task was associated with the risk of falling in older adults.

Language: en