Citation

Melzer I, Kurz I, Shahar D, Levi M, Oddsson L. Age Ageing 2007; 36(5): 532-537.

Affiliation

Rehabilitation and Movement Analysis Laboratory in the Leon and Matilda Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Physical Therapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/ageing/afm068

PMID

17545207

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: to assess the use of the Voluntary Step Execution Test to identify fallers. DESIGN: cross-sectional retrospective. SETTING: two self-care, residential facilities. Participants: a total of 100 healthy old volunteers (mean age = 78.4 +/- 5.7). MEASUREMENTS: the study investigated the use of the Voluntary Step Execution Test to identify fallers under single and dual-task conditions. Berg Balance Test (BBS) and Timed Get Up and Go (TUG) were used to assess balance and gait function. RESULTS: there were no significant differences found between fallers and non-fallers in BBS and TUG (50.5 +/- 4.6 versus 52.5 +/- 3.4 and 9.4 +/- 3.4 versus 7.98 +/- 2.3 respectively). There were no statistically significant differences between non-fallers and fallers across all step execution parameters under the single-task condition. However, adding cognitive load to the Voluntary Step Execution Test revealed statistically significant increases in duration of the preparatory phase, swing time and the time to foot-contact (P = 0.035;P = 0.033 and P = 0.037, respectively). Based on the coefficients of the logistic regression model participants with dual-task step execution times of >/ = 1,100 ms had five times the risk of falling than participants with execution times of <1,100 ms. CONCLUSIONS: the study provides evidence that a simple, safemeasure of step execution under dual-task conditions can identify elderly individuals at risk for falls.

Language: en